Intimate Strangers
by Emerald-Shadow-Knight
Summary: After a one night stand, Jean and Armin's future plans are derailed. Now in an arrangement that they're much too young for, they have to get along with the other's loved ones, and each other. Jearmin AU. Contains teen marriage and mpreg.
1. Chapter 1

Armin Arlert couldn't believe his luck right now. Never in his life did he think this was going to happen to him.

Above him, Jean Kirstein, the star quarterback of their high school football team, was looming over him with a coy smirk on his face. Both boys were shirtless, their jeans both unbuttoned and unzipped in anticipation for whatever was coming next.

Neither of them said anything, just staring at each other in some sort of lustful haze. Armin had to breathe deeply to control himself as Jean leaned in and started kissing at his waist. Then his breath hitched as he went upward and started to softly suck on one of his nipples, his hand gently pinching the other.

If the gossip at school were any indication, Jean had taken the virginity of at least half the students, male and female alike. Armin was aware that he was simply another notch in his belt, but he still couldn't help but lust over him.

He almost stopped breathing when Jean had propositioned earlier that day; something about wanting to know what Heaven on Earth was like. It'd been cheesy as hell, but Armin fell for it anyway.

Had his friends Eren and Mikasa been there, it wouldn't have ended well. That much he knew.

Armin was distracted long enough by Jean exploring his body with his tongue, that he didn't notice him pulling down his pants and shorts. When he did, it was while Jean was already sticking his fingers into him and opening him up. The pleasant burn got him to suck in air through his teeth.

Armin was still in some kind of haze when he could hear the sound of a condom wrapper being opened. Hearing it did get him to breathe a sigh of relief.

It still hurt when he was penetrated, him biting one of his knuckles as Jean carefully pushed into him.

The rest of that night went as predicted, with Armin not entirely certain how to describe it. He at least was allowed to stay the night, should he be up for round two.


	2. Chapter 2

About a month and a half had passed since Armin and Jean had been 'together'. In that month and a half, Jean had continued his usual philandering, proceeding to bed several more willing students.

For Armin, on the other hand, he'd ended up contracting some kind of illness that refused to go away.

It was during one morning that he was kneeling in front of the toilet, the oatmeal and orange juice he had for breakfast failing to keep down. His unpleasant lurching didn't go unnoticed by his roommate.

"Armin?" He heard Eren ask through the bathroom door, after knocking. "You all right?"

Armin groaned before answering. "No...I don't think I can go to school today either."

He could then hear Eren make a weird noise, most likely out of shock from hearing this; if Armin couldn't go to school, something was terribly wrong.

...

After Eren left for school, Armin managed to get back to his feet and stumbled into the kitchen. Once there, he rummaged around for anything that could be used to deal with his nausea.

This sudden yet gradual sickness baffled him; he couldn't blame it on any kind of flu bug or anything like that. No one else around him had gotten it. It couldn't be food poisoning, either; he always made sure anything he ate was clean, fresh, and/or properly cooked.

In the end, Armin just dug out a bottle of ginger ale and a few crackers, before heading off to bed once more.

He felt like he didn't sleep all that long when Eren came home later that day after school. As a result, he remained in bed with his eyes closed when Eren came to check on him.

It wasn't skipping a day of school itself that was the problem; Armin could practically miss an entire year or two of school and still be top of the class academically. It was the fact that he had to skip it at all.

...

The next day, Armin was forced to schedule an appointment with Doctor Hanji, whether he wanted to or not (he didn't want to, but Eren and Mikasa were persistent. They wore him down until he complied with their wishes). Now, he sat in the waiting room as he watched several other people there with their own medical ailments.

He did so until a nurse showed up and announced his name. Then it was an embarrassing walk to the doctor's office. Once there, he had to wait for the doctor herself to show up.

The longer he waited, the more nervous he became. Armin could feel another bout of nausea creeping up on him by the time she did show up.

"Need something?" She asked him, as though she could predict his illness. All that Armin could really do was nod and be handed the nearby trashcan, which he promptly vomited into.

He really hoped that the doctor could figure out what the problem was. He didn't know how much more he could take.

...

Once the checkup was over and done with, Armin was curled up in the fetal position when he got home. In his hand was a paper with the results of what he'd tested positive for.

Weirdly enough, Doctor Hanji had suggested a pregnancy test, of all things. Despite not really understanding why, he did so.

After he got home and looked over the results, he realized why; the only thing on the list Armin tested positive for was pregnancy.

He stayed in that same position after Eren and Mikasa came home. When they asked him how his doctor's appointment went, Armin just pointed to the paper he'd now set on his bed.

Impossible as it may have been, Armin knew there was only one person who could be the father.

...

Telling Eren and Mikasa who fathered Armin's child turned out to be a very bad idea.

"I'm gonna kill that horny horse-faced bastard!" Was what Eren had shouted when Armin told them both the story. Mikasa didn't look all that pleased either.

The next few minutes went by in a blur; before too long, they were all at Jean's apartment (he didn't live very far away).

Armin was told to stay in the car as the other two 'sorted things out', which sounded like code word for 'killed Jean and buried him in a shallow grave'.

When far too much time seemed to have passed, Armin got out of the car and reached Jean's apartment with shaking legs. Sure enough, upon reaching the others, Armin saw Eren tightly holding Jean in a chokehold.

"I'm gonna make you regret ever touching him, you horse's ass!" Eren growled at him. Jean couldn't answer; he looked as though he were on the verge of passing out. As this was all happening, Mikasa stood by and watched. Neither of them seemed to have noticed he came in.

"Eren!" He cried out. "Let him go. If you're going to kill him, at least have him know why before you do."

Looking up at Armin for a few moments, Eren reluctantly let go. Right away, Jean took several gasps of air, as the color returned to his face.

"What the..." Here he coughed a few times. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?!"

"You talk as though you don't know what you did," Mikasa said to him in a deadpan voice.

"Because I don't! The fuck is going on?!"

Jean tried to stand up, but Eren just pushed him back down with his foot. He then stomped down onto his stomach, causing him to shout out in more pain.

To try and get Eren to stop, Armin pulled him away and helped Jean to his feet.

"I can explain," he said to him while brushing him off, a strangely hollowed warmth to his voice. "Let's go someplace else, though. I don't want the other two to try and murder you while we're talking."

...

Even for a high school senior, Jean's room was extremely messy. Armin was having a hard time finding a place to sit down before Jean cleared off a spot directly across from him. Armin didn't want to step on the clothes he'd shoved to the floor, but did anyway.

"So," Jean muttered as he crossed his arms in a slightly petulant manner, "what is so damn important that I ended up nearly getting killed over it?"

Taking a deep breath, Armin started to explain why he was even here in the first place. "Well, I..." But he was quickly silenced when Jean looked behind him.

"Hang on." He glared at the door with an intensity that could scare anybody. "Jaeger, I can see your feet. Piss off and wait in the living room or something." Armin took a peek himself; sure enough, Eren's feet were visible under the door. He clearly didn't like not being able to wail on Jean at this moment. Once he did leave, Armin went on.

"Well, earlier today I went to the doctor, since I wasn't really feeling all that well, and..."

He paused, causing Jean to try and get him to tell him already.

"So...What does you being sick have to do with me, specifically?" Armin reached out to unfold Jean's arms and held his hands.

"Jean, I..." He quick glanced away for a few seconds and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm having a baby, Jean. Your baby. That's why I'm telling you."

No response. Armin went on. "Before you say anything about how we used a condom -and we did-, they're not a hundred percent effective. So...

"I'm telling you this because I figured you had a right to know, since it's yours. You don't have to be there for me or the baby. You can be as involved as you'd like. I just...At this point, you do whatever you want. If you want to keep doing what you've been doing, that's fine..." Armin stopped, looking as if he were about to cry. He could feel himself shaking, wringing his hands and feeling utterly terrified now. Still, he waited for Jean to say or do anything, anything at all.

He still jumped a bit when Jean began moving closer to him, and wrapping his arms around him, while resting his head on his shoulder. This reaction wasn't what Armin would expect in a million lifetimes; the way Jean was rubbing his back now, though, made it definitely real.

Armin also would never expect what happened next; Jean leaning in and whispering into his ear very surprising words, even if they weren't teenagers:

"Marry me."

The sudden request caught Armin completely off guard. "W-What?"

Jean grinned a little, as he pulled back and rested a hand onto Armin's face. "Yeah. Isn't that the best thing to do in the case of an unplanned pregnancy? You marry me, move in with me, and we can prepare for the baby together." To be honest, Armin didn't actually think this was a good idea. He made sure Jean knew this.

"Jean, you and I... That can't be an option for us. I mean, we're both in high school, neither of us has a job, we can barely support ourselves-"

"When you say it like that," Jean said while frowning, pulling away from Armin now, "You're making it sound like we're a couple of kids."

"We are a couple of kids!" Now Armin really was crying. "If we don't have the means to care for ourselves, how can we raise a child?" Both of them were quiet now. Armin wiped away any tears with his thumb, while sniffling.

"I'm sorry, Jean."

He didn't respond, but Armin could see Jean's cheeks getting all red and splotchy. His face was turned away now, trying to conceal the hurt that could be seen clearly in his eyes. Everything else about him was shaking, presumably from a painful mix of rage and sadness.

In a moment of poor thinking, Armin just figured it was due to not being good with rejection.

"Jean-"

"Get out," he told him suddenly, crossing his arms again. "Just...Get out." But as he said this, Armin could hear a bit of wavering in his voice, like it were about to break. His lower lip was trembling, even when he tried to get it to stop.

Not wishing to incur any potential wrath Jean might have been feeling, Armin slowly got to his feet, then left the room to rejoin the other two.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Armin was finally able to return to school.

He hoped that none of the other students would comment on his long absence, or how he already looked to be gaining weight from the baby inside him. All he really wanted to do was get his late homework and try to get through the rest of the day without much incident. Eren and Mikasa, of course, kept nearby to make sure he wasn't harassed.

For most of the day, it was rather normal, at least until Armin was on his way to his last class. Then he could feel a definite sense of dread lurking by. As he went down the hall with the multitude of other students, he could see Jean coming towards him on the other side of the hallway. Jean looked none too happy, with an incredibly dark look on his face. One of the other students didn't realize this, and tried initiating conversation.

"Heeeey, Jean!" One of their friends, Connie, called out to him when he was getting closer. "Me and the other football players were all gonna splurge our asses off after the next big game! We'd love to have our star quarterback there-"

Jean didn't let him finish. As soon as he was close enough, he flattened his palm against Connie's face, and roughly pushed him away. He didn't even bother to look and see whether or not Connie was all right.

All the other students watched him continue down the hallway, one of his hands clenched into a fist. When he was gone, the whispering and gossiping began.

...

Upon arriving back home after school, Jean made a beeline for his room, not acknowledging his mother sitting in the kitchen when she greeted him. He made certain that he didn't want to be bothered by her by slamming his bedroom door.

Once he was inside his room, Jean strode over to his bed and flopped onto it, letting his face hit the pillow.

Then came the tears, and sobbing. It hurt him immensely knowing he would soon be a father, and had his offer of marital security rejected. But he didn't know how else to take responsibility for an unplanned pregnancy. He had been so caught up in his emotions, that when his phone rang, it caught him completely off guard. Grabbing it, Jean took a good look at who was calling him:

Marco.

"Hello?" Although Marco went to a different high school than Jean did, the both of them were still quite close; they had been since they were kids.

"Jean! Hi." The way he was talking confirmed what Jean was dreading.

"You already know, don't you?"

There was a pause before Marco answered. "Yeah. Kind of a sticky situation you got caught up in."

Jean could feel his tears well up again. He had to keep wiping his face with the back of his hand as the both of them talked about Jean's predicament.

...

Later that afternoon, the two met up at the mall in town to continue discussing the best course of action.

It wasn't too hard to find Marco; not many other young men wore their school uniform long after the school day was done. He also had the common sense to gesture where he was.

"Yoohoo! Jean! Over here!" From the look of things, Marco already planned ahead in regards to their visit. The amount of food court purchases seemed a bit much.

It was over barbecued pulled pork sandwiches and large Orange Julius drinks that the both of them further discussed the current situation. The whole time, Jean looked absolutely miserable.

"I'm a fuckin' idiot, aren't I, Marco?" His sudden question got Marco to change the direction of his current planning.

"I wouldn't go that far, but I will say that marriage usually isn't the first thing seventeen year old fathers to be bringing up. Normally they suggest abortion first.

"Did you tell your mother yet, at least?"

Jean shook his head while resting it on one of his raised hands. "Dunno what to say to her. I can't exactly go up to her and say 'Hey Mom, you're gonna be a grandma in a few months! What's for dinner?'."

Now he just slumped over onto the table and hid his face in his arms.

...

Armin was noticing that his clothes were already starting to get a bit tight around the waist. This made the whole situation a touch more real. He supposed that since he was carrying this child, that'd make him the mother or something to that effect.

"None of this is your fault, ok?" He whispered to his flat stomach. "You may not have been planned, but I in no way consider you a mistake."

He didn't know how Eren and Mikasa themselves felt about it (probably none too pleased), but he himself didn't hate this transforming bundle of cells. It wasn't at fault for being conceived at the time it had been. He could never hate it.

Putting away the shirt he'd been trying on, Armin checked to see if he had his wallet. When he found it, he grabbed any money in it and shoved it into his back pocket.

Maybe it was time to go and check out some new clothes in case he needed them.

...

Upon arriving, Armin could feel a sense of foreboding come upon him the moment he walked through the doors.

A quick glance around the food court showed him why: at a table on the far side of the court showed Jean talking it up with his friend Marco. He looked exhausted and in pain.

Against his better judgment, Armin gradually made his way over to them. Right away, Marco noticed him, but Jean wasn't quite aware just yet.

"Jean?" Saying his name when he got close enough, Armin watched Jean beginning to look up. When it occurred to him who it was, he suddenly jumped out of the chair he had been sitting in, and quickly got to his feet.

Neither Armin nor Marco could stop him from sprinting off.

...

Once Jean ran into the changing room of a sporting goods store, he slid down the surprisingly dingy wall and began to have an emotional breakdown.

It was already bad enough that Armin rejected his proposal. Now he was bothering him in public. He must've been trying to rub in his face the fact that he'd rejected him over something.

Jean didn't answer when he heard Marco's voice on the other side of the door. He simply buried his face into his knees, hoping that if he waited long enough, Marco would leave him alone.

...

"Jean! Jean, are you in here?" Marco was trying not to knock too hard against the door, out of fear that he might break through it. Behind him, Armin stood in an oddly stiff manner, chewing his bottom lip between his teeth.

Both of them waited for a response. When there wasn't one, Marco tried again.

"Come on, Jean! Get out of there and we can discuss all of this-"

"No! Go away!" Jean certainly sounded quite irate right now. "I'm not coming back out until you're both gone!"

Marco turned back to look at Armin, who in turn approached himself and gently rapped on the door to give it a try.

"Jean-" But he didn't get any farther than saying his name before he got a similar reaction.

"Get lost! I don't need you making everything worse!"

Armin pursed his lips together in frustration. "Jean, please. Quit acting like a child about this."

This just seemed to infuriate Jean even more. "Well, according to you, that's precisely what I am! I'm just a big stupid child who can't be allowed to take responsibility for a baby I helped make!"

He wasn't done with his self-deprecating tirade. "That's all I am! I'm a stupid seventeen year old kid! Apparently I'm not fit to care for myself, let alone my own kid! I-I...I..."

Now he faltered, going silent besides a few choked sobs. Marco and Armin glanced at each other, trying to figure out what to say or do next. Then Marco stepped forward again to talk to Jean some more.

"Jean?" He was much calmer this time. "Jean, please. If you'd just come out of there, we can discuss all this and try to get it all worked out. Can you at least do that for us?"

At first there was no answer. Then, the dressing room door slowly creaked open, revealing Jean shaking with emotion.

"It's okay, come on," Marco whispered to him, as though coaxing a frightened puppy out from under a porch.

...

Jean and Armin, at their request, were left alone now, having left the mall to go to Jean's house. Marco still remained close in case anything went awry.

Neither of them said anything; they were quiet on the way back, and they were quiet now. It seemed they couldn't think of anything to say, or they just couldn't put any of it into words.

Jean was looking down at his feet, maybe being ashamed of how petulant he'd been acting earlier. Armin wished he could try and make him feel better about that; extreme as his reaction had been, it was somewhat understandable.

Then, without warning, Jean reached over to place a hand over Armin's still flat belly. He gently rubbed it up and down, before pressing his fingertips against it. While doing that, he also leaned in and pressed his lips against it. Not knowing what to say to that, Armin leaned back and let him lavish attention.

"If you don't want to marry me," Jean said as he then pressed an ear to where he thought the baby was growing, "then fine. But I'm not gonna leave you to raise this kid alone. I don't trust Jaeger, and Mikasa actually kind of scares me.

"Let me just...be there for the two of you, okay? I helped make it, so I should help raise it."

Armin didn't answer right away. Instead, he lifted a hand to smooth through Jean's short hair. Then he looked down at him, glancing at his sides briefly before looking at him again.

"...Yes."

Jean glanced up at him. "Yes? Yes what?"

"Yes, I will marry you. If you're serious about being there for the two of us, then I'll be serious about your request. So...yes."

His answer got Jean's eyes to sparkle, as he pushed himself up to be eye level with Armin. A grin slowly unraveled itself across his face.

Then, he just wrapped his arms around him, holding him close (while also trying not to squish the baby, tiny as it was right now). He pressed a few quick kisses to his cheek, before pulling away.

"I'm gonna take good care of both of you," he said when moving forward again to resume hugging. "I'm gonna do my best to be a good husband and dad. I promise."

...

It was done so quickly and informally, it couldn't really be considered a proper 'wedding'. The vows were said, witnesses were present, and after all the legal business in regards to age, the papers were signed.

Although Eren and Mikasa were quite displeased over the arrangement (Eren had even tried to stab Jean), in the end there wasn't really anything they could do about it.

Now the two of them were outside the courthouse, with Jean on his phone. Armin sat on the steps to the entrance, carefully tracing a finger through the bouquet of lilies that they'd gotten from some weird gas station right before the ceremony.

He tried not to be too worried over the conversation Jean was having with his mother; from the sound of things, she was even more upset with all this.

Armin tried not to flinch when he heard her refer to him as 'some floozy', which infuriated Jean into shouting over the phone at her.

When he'd finally hung up after saying goodbye, Jean huffed angrily and rubbed his temples with his fingers. Seeing his distress, Armin stood up and walked over to him; to try and comfort him, he patted a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be all right," he whispered to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Due to the confrontation over the phone with Jean and his mother, the newlyweds ended up staying over at Marco's house. He was at least willing to take them in during a most turbulent point of their lives. He did have one request though; as soon as possible, the two had to find their own place. Jean said it would be difficult given their financial situation, but he was going to try his damnedest.

The night of their wedding, Jean and Armin were sitting in the guest room of the house (Marco was old enough to live on his own, and he was also fairly well off). Neither of them could really think of anything to say.

Jean did glance over at Armin once in a while, thinking about how he was going to look when he reached third trimester. It was a bit comical to think about, if horrifying to also imagine the strain on his body by then.

He was then caught off guard by Armin running to the bathroom, presumably to throw up. Like a good husband, he followed him to hold back his hair as he did so.

...

The next morning, Armin woke up to an empty bed. He barely registered it at first, simply pulling out a set of clean pajamas he managed to take from Eren and Mikasa's apartment.

After he was all dressed up for the day, Armin stumbled out into the hallway and into the bathroom again. Just like last night, he was kneeling in front of the toilet, puking out what little he still had in his stomach.

While he was doing this, Armin was then feeling his emotions reach some kind of severe fever pitch.

Then he heard the door open behind him, along with a pair of hands bundling his hair up into an impromptu ponytail. Just like before.

For some reason, though, Armin didn't like it this time. As soon as there was a break in his lurches, he spun around and began slapping at Jean's chest with his open palms.

Armin honestly didn't know what had gotten into him. Jean tried wrapping his arms around him, but Armin wasn't having that, either.

"Stupid stupid stupid- Let go of me! Let go! You ruined my life!" He kept trying to push him away, to no avail. "Get out, dammit! Just leave me alone! I don't want you here!"

This finally had an effect; Jean must've gotten the hint that Armin was indeed not wanting him there. Reluctantly, he let go of him and stood back up.

As he was leaving the bathroom, however, Armin calmed down enough to think more clearly.

"Jean?" He crawled forward and reached out to him. "No wait, Jean, come back! Come back, please!"

Jean stopped right before touching the doorknob, and turned back to see Armin quivering. It looked to be a combination of raw emotions, and another emetic wave. He stared at him for a little longer before walking back to him.

Then he took hold of Armin's hair again, rubbing his back while he went back to vomiting.

...

People were staring and whispering at school the next morning, after seeing the way Jean and Armin were walking so close to one another. Neither of them had interacted much before now, hence the gossip and stares.

Jean and Armin tried not to let it get to them as Jean walked Armin to his first class. As he did, he pointedly ignored Eren and Mikasa's piercing glares.

"Your doctor's appointment is at four, right?" Jean whispered. Armin nodded. "I'll drive you there after school, okay?"

He leaned in to kiss Armin's forehead, but was stopped by Eren clearing his throat. So instead he sheepishly whispered a quick goodbye and lumbered off to class.

...

Beyond a few snotty remarks about Jean and Armin's newfound relationship status, the rest of the school day came and went without much incident.

Now both of them were in a darkened room at the hospital, waiting for the doctor to show up. Jean sat in a chair next to the examination table, while Armin was lightly napping on aforementioned table.

As they both sat there, Jean kept glancing over at Armin's still flattened belly. He just found it mind-boggling that there was something in there somehow, something that he put in there. A new life that was a part of both him and Armin, steadily growing into something of its own.

He was interrupted when Doctor Hanji finally showed up.

"All righty," she said to the both of them while firing up her ultrasound machine. "Let's see if we can find ourselves a baby here."

...

Armin had shivered when he felt the cold ultrasound gel getting spread on his exposed belly. It didn't last too long, though; in no time at all, he and Jean were staring at something moving on the screen.

It didn't look at all like a baby; rather it looked more like some kind of blob. Going by what Doctor Hanji was pointing out, however, it was indeed a baby in its early stages.

Nevertheless, it got the both of them all starry-eyed to see it, Jean especially. It looked as if he were about to reach forward and touch the screen.

"Can't believe that's going on inside you," he ended up saying instead.

...

Jean and Armin were still marveling at the picture they'd gotten from their ultrasound, after they'd returned home that night and lay in bed together. Once in a while, Jean lost sight of the baby, leading Armin to point it out to him again.

Now, the reality of their situation had settled in; before long, Jean was going to have to find a job that paid all right (easier said than done, considering his young age and the fact he was still in high school). Then came having to find their own place, as per Marco's request.

After all that would come preparing for the baby; buying things like formula, diapers, and clothes, which alone could end up costing them a fortune.

The whole thing was just becoming a total mess. Armin looked to be aware of this when he set the picture down and stared at the ceiling.

"Jean?" He waited until he could hear Jean make a noise like "Mm-hmm?"

"Jean..." He reached down and pressed his hand flat against his belly. "I feel like I don't have the capability to be a good mother. To be honest, I'm terrified. It's...a lot to take in."

Armin lazily drew a finger around his navel, going quiet now. Not answering right away, Jean reached over to place a hand over Armin's. He sidled up closer to him, and rubbed their cheeks together.

"If you think I'm ever going to abandon you, don't. I seem to recall 'death do us part' as part of what was said at our wedding.

"Yeah, it's gonna be difficult, but I'll do my best to provide. I'll take care of you both, I promise."

Silence. Armin tried changing the subject.

"I think my back's starting to hurt." Jean didn't say anything, but he did roll onto his side to help Armin out.

...

Before long, that simple back rub turned into something far more adult.

Jean sat at the edge of the bed, his legs opened slightly apart from each other. In front of them, Armin knelt down onto the floor, then took hold of Jean's shorts and worked them off of him. Once they were off, Armin got back down to start licking at Jean's hard cock.

Just as Armin wanted to see, Jean bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. He let out a rumbly groan while Armin started taking in more of him.

Then his breath hitched when Armin reached up to massage his balls, in the hopes of making it feel better for him.

"Armin..." Jean groaned out before laying a hand on top of Armin's head, coaxing him to go just a little more.

When it was over, Armin wiped the cum off of his chin. He stood up in preparation for getting back to bed. To say the least, he was surprised when Jean took hold of his wrist and pulled him back.

"Eh...?" Armin closed his eyes halfway as Jean softly kissed his belly, before pressing his face in and murmuring something he couldn't completely understand.

"...love you already...do anything...father was a loser..."

Then he went back to kissing his stomach. Just as Armin did for him, now Jean got to his own knees and pulled Armin's shorts down gradually. In no time at all, he was repaying the favor.

Armin had to admit that feeling Jean's warm mouth around his cock was wonderful. He couldn't help but reach up under his nightshirt and pinch one of his nipples. The other hand found itself in Jean's hair.

There weren't any words spoken between them, only sounds of pleasure. Armin could be heard gasping, panting, and moaning. Jean, on the other hand, kept groaning and sucking gently while bobbing his head back and forth.

Reaching back down to put his other hand next to the first one, Armin tipped his head back and closed his eyes. He felt Jean take in more of him, to the point of deep-throating. Jean was gripping his hips to try and get his cock in a little deeper. He at least got it in enough to feel his airways get blocked. He held himself like that for a while, long enough to really feel it affecting him.

Armin pulled out a bit when he saw Jean's eyes roll back into his head. Jean himself attempted to hide this by closing his eyes, letting out a series of muffled groans as well.

For what felt like hours (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing) it went on like this. Armin kept emitting sounds of pleasure and bliss. Jean, meanwhile, was beginning to casually touch himself. Armin's noises were music to his ears, causing him to do so.

"Jean...oh, Jean...Jean, yes...!" Armin kept chanting Jean's name like some form of mantra. He tried to keep it quiet in case he could accidentally wake Marco up.

One last gasping breath signaled Armin reaching his limit. He felt himself cum, the bitter and salty substance spurting down Jean's throat. Jean swallowed as much as he could, before pulling away to gasp for air.

...

Early the next morning, Jean and Armin were able to wake up before Marco did.

Armin sat at the kitchen table, poking at a bowl of congealing oatmeal. Leaning on the kitchen counter, Jean sipped at a small mug of coffee. Both of them looked out the nearby window, seeing just how dreary the day would be for them.

Nothing was said; there wasn't really much to talk about. Both of them were such different people. The silence was thick and troublesome, though.

"At least today's an inservice day," Jean murmured behind his coffee mug. Armin just nodded and made a sound of agreement. He ate a couple small spoonfuls of his now cold oatmeal before just leaving his spoon in the bowl. His gaze was still directed outside.

"...Why was this what you wanted?"

"Huh? You mean the coffee and oatmeal?"

Armin frowned. "No...I mean getting married. I thought maybe you were going to ask me to get an abortion that day. So why did you suggest getting married instead of that?"

Now Jean was quiet, before lowering his mug and shrugging. "Just seemed like the right thing to do, I suppose. What, did you want me to leave you high and dry?"

"No! I just..." Armin gazed downward when he stood up to confront him better. "What are you going to do when the whole school knows about this? I don't want you to be in trouble or anything."

"The whole school didn't knock you up. Anyone that has a problem with me and you can go suck it."

Armin actually gave an amused grin before he took his turn to speak.

"It's just that...well, having a baby wasn't exactly on my list of future endeavors. I don't think it was a part of yours, either. I mean, what about any football scholarships you might have been waiting for?"

"Baby comes first. Football can wait."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, school wasn't exactly going great. At least once Armin could hear someone behind him quietly calling him a slut. Nobody dared to say it out loud for fear of incurring Eren or Mikasa's wrath. Therefore, he was just resigned to hearing the snide remarks whispered in secret.

Jean's day was even worse; somehow, someone got word out to the other football players about what Jean had done recently. It ended up making him some type of laughingstock among his teammates.

But it was Eren himself who made Jean officially snap. By the time anyone really noticed, they were already on the floor, fighting each other for some form of dominance. The other teammates watched and goaded them on.

It'd gotten so bad, the football coach/gym teacher had to break the two of them up. Shortly thereafter, both were sitting in coach Shadis' office.

"I've just about had it up to here with the both of you!" he shouted at them. "Every time a fight breaks out, _every time_ , it always involves you two! Am I going to have to bench one of you for the rest of this season?!"

Both of them started talking at once, and pointing at each other, making accusations that got increasingly heinous.

...

Everyone waited to see what would be the result of yet another fistfight between Jaeger and Kirstein. All of them knew that someone wasn't going to be part of the team after this.

That was answered when all of them saw Jean walking out of the coach's office. His head was bowed down, a clear sign he didn't want any of them to see his face. After that came Eren, his hands behind his head and a smug grin on his own face. It looked as though he were about to break out in laughter towards Jean's misery.

He instead went over to his teammates and partook in a series of high fives. Jean, meanwhile, just got back to the locker room to change into his regular clothing. Everyone else was still praising Eren by the time he left the gymnasium.

He didn't want anybody to point and laugh at him ending up being cut from the team.

...

Lunch wasn't any better. In fact, Jean could even say it was worse. He knew he was going to get an earful from Armin when he saw him sitting with Eren and Mikasa. Rolling his eyes, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst.

"Jean!" Armin's voice held just the slightest bit of disappointment, when he stood up to confront him. "What's this about you and Eren getting into a fight?"

"Hey," Jean retorted as he slammed his tray down onto the table. "He's the one that started it. He kept on yakking about how I'm no good for anyone, especially not you. So I got pissed and just took a swing at him."

As the two argued, the rest of the students in the cafeteria tried not to get sucked into it. There was no sense in getting involved with a dispute between two very young newlyweds.

"Jean, you can't just go and punch everyone that says those kinds of things. And you've been on thin ice with Coach Shadis for awhile now. Punching Eren was not the right thing to do!"

"Oh, so you're taking his side, then? You're taking the side of your loser friend over your own freakin' husband?!"

"I'm not taking sides here, Jean! I'm just saying-"

It went on like this, with Jean claiming favoritism, and Armin trying to help him see reason.

...

Then came Spanish class. This sucked for Jean because Eren sat behind him.

During the lesson about what words had false cognates, a paper dropped in front of him. Although Jean could do better in this class, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know what ' _cara caballo_ ' meant.

In return, Jean wrote down ' _cabron_ ' and threw it behind himself. About a minute or so passed, before the paper came back. Now it read ' _vete a la chingada_ '. This time, he put down ' _cabeza de pija_ ' and passed it back.

It came back with ' _Que te folle un pez_ '. Jean didn't have time for sending another Spanish insult back, though. He didn't even have time to start writing before the paper was snatched away from him.

Then he got an earful of Miss Dreyse telling him not to write such incredibly vulgar things in a different language.

...

Finally, when school let out, Jean took an immediate beeline to Marco's house. He knew that if he stuck around, things might get worse for him.

Armin ended up going to Eren and Mikasa's after school. Much as it pained and angered Jean to know that, he knew it was an understandable choice. After all this, he wouldn't be surprised if Armin got his pregnancy terminated and their marriage annulled.

He didn't even bother to get his homework out to work on. All he did was pull his pants off and flop onto his bed facedown burying his face into his pillow.

"Jean?" Now he could hear Marco calling for him, as the latter poked his head into the room. "I'm making meatloaf for myself. You want me to make some extra for you?"

Without lifting his head up, Jean shook his head and groaned. Marco didn't say anything else, so Jean assumed he'd been satisfied with that for an answer.

...

He ended up taking a nap at some point, without realizing he even fell asleep. When he did wake up, it was to a couple voices from the kitchen. They weren't totally coherent, though.

"Does that sometimes... always had that problem... they never got along..."

"...bad idea... not part of the... argued during lunch today..."

The bits and pieces Jean managed to hear were all falling into place now. No doubt he was still in deep trouble for his poor behavior at school earlier.

Jean was about to go back to sleep when his phone vibrated on the nightstand next to him. Rolling his eyes, he pulled it out and stared at the message on the screen.

It was an unopened message from Eren. The title of it amounted to some kind of 'sorry, not sorry'. Therefore, Jean hardly batted an eyelash when sending his own message that basically said 'go fuck yourself'.

He then threw his phone across the small room, hearing it thump against the opposite wall. Once that had been done, he curled up into the fetal position and fell back to sleep.

...

It was fairly late when Armin was finally going to bed. He'd done his social studies homework, then ended up chatting with Marco about Jean's behavior at school today.

"Would you believe me if I told you that that's normal for him?" Was what Marco said when Armin finished telling his tale. The both of them talked more after that, mostly about why Jean acted that way.

By the time both boys had gone to bed, Armin had a somewhat better understanding of his new husband. It didn't excuse his behavior in any way, but at least now he had a clearer idea of him.

It actually looked kind of endearing (if rather pathetic) to see Jean curled up on the bed like some type of caterpillar.

"Jean..." No response. Armin got on his knees on the bed, and scooted closer. He tried again. "Jean!"

He still didn't get an answer. It could've been that Jean was actually ashamed of the way he acted earlier, and was only pretending to be asleep. In an attempt to wake him, Armin grabbed hold of his shoulder and roughly shook it.

"Jean, wake up! I need to talk to you about something." This got Jean to awaken a bit, if only to push him away. Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, Armin sighed and got himself settled under the blanket.

...

About a week or two later, the school's first football game of the season was getting practiced for. Jean had almost forgotten that he wasn't part of the team anymore. Armin actually needed to remind him of this.

Speaking of Armin, he was already beginning to show; a little swell that indicated pregnancy. By now, he estimated that he was two months (Maybe two and a half) along at this point. This bit of information came to Jean's great joy; he couldn't stop kissing Armin's stomach when they were in private.

"Jean," came Armin's voice as he looked down to see Jean hugging his legs, "have you been looking for a job at all lately?"

Resting the side of his face against Armin's belly, Jean nodded. "I haven't gotten any calls back, though."

Hearing this got Armin worried; the two of them needed to quit leeching off of Marco, and get their own place. He'd at least wanted a home big enough for the two of them and their unborn baby.

"Maybe we need a little help? Or I could get a job myself-"

"No," came Jean's terse and abrupt reply. "No sense in overexerting yourself. I don't want you hurting yourself or the baby. Leave the job stuff to me, got it?"

Knowing it was futile to argue about all this, Armin nodded. He then leaned against the wall (they were in the janitor's closet; both of them hoped Armin didn't end up accidentally inhaling something he shouldn't), and let Jean get back to kissing and caressing his stomach.

...

"Jean, I'm hungry," Armin said as he and Jean were walking home from school. "I want tacos."

Jean raised an eyebrow to this. "Can't you wait until we get back to Marco's?"

"No." Now Armin began to pull at Jean's arm. "I want them now. Take me to Taco Bell."

"Don't we have the fixings for tacos at home? Is it really that bad?"

Armin pulled harder. "Yes! It's very bad! Take me there now."

"But-"

"If you don't, I'm gonna tell Eren and Mikasa what a terrible husband you're being."

With that threat, now Jean had no reason to deny Armin that which he sorely desired. Eren didn't need more fodder against him.

As if to give him the finger (who exactly was doing it to him, he wasn't certain), Armin literally took a single bite and was satisfied. This left Jean having to devour almost an entire chicken taco, even if he wasn't really all that hungry.

...

In bed that night, Armin was quietly reading _Martin the Warrior_ , while Jean lay facing away from him, sound asleep. The way he actually slept -with his arm directly under his head- looked kind of uncomfortable.

"Jean?" His whispering evidently wasn't the right volume; Jean merely continued snoring away. Trying again only resulted in him burping chicken taco, to Armin's frustration. He made a face that seemed as though he couldn't believe that this young man knocked up and married him.

Now getting fed up, Armin reached over and pinched Jean's nose shut. This gave the desired effect; Jean struggled to breathe for a moment or two, only being able to do so after batting Armin's hand away.

"Armin, what...?!" It took him a bit to stop coughing and choking. "Are you trying to kill me?"

When Armin reassured Jean that he hadn't been trying to kill him, he proceeded to say what else was on his mind.

"Do you think that maybe, just maybe, you could be a little nicer to Eren?" Jean was quiet for a moment, before he scowled and flopped back onto his side, attempting to continue sleeping.

"Why should I? That asshole's the reason I'm in trouble in the first place. I wouldn't have had so many problems if he'd just keep his trap shut."

Armin chose his next words as carefully as he could.

"If you can't be nice to him for me, then..." Here Armin set his book down and lay a hand on his belly. "Do it for this one. I don't think this baby wants to see Daddy being mean to Uncle Eren."

Knowing Armin was right, Jean sighed. "Fine, but only because you're the one suggesting it."

Armin decided that was a good enough answer. To show his appreciation, he leaned over to kiss Jean on the cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered, before turning back to his book and letting Jean get back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day was Saturday. Given that there was no school to worry about (and no football practice, either) the newlyweds ended up going to some baby store and look for things.

"Kind of weird to think of miniature people wearing this kind of stuff," Jean told Armin as the two pawed through various baby clothes. All the little shirts and onesies were almost overwhelming. Armin could've sworn Jean was holding back a squee or two, when he picked up a shirt with a little teddy bear embroidered on the front.

Jean's enthusiasm was not to last, however. He was about to ask Armin if they could get one or two of the tiny outfits, when his cell phone rang. Taking a good look at who was calling made his grin vanish completely.

"Dammit...I'll be right back," he told Armin before stepping outside to take the call. He wasn't talking for long before the mystery caller told him something apparently infuriating.

"Yeah, well," he answered. "Maybe you should've thought of that _before_ you called him a floozy."

From recent events, Armin now knew he was talking to his mother. It was understandable that he was still a bit sore over what she told him.

"I don't need your help. I don't _want_ your help. I can support my own family with help from my friends. So piss off until I'm able to bother looking at you again."

As soon as Jean hung up, he sighed and slapped a hand against his face, slowly dragging it downward.

"Pretty sure I just signed my own death warrant by doing that," he murmured as Armin came out to see what the exact result of the call was.

...

After going through the clothing section, both of them ended up in the nursery section. Just like before, Jean was taken by all the neat baby stuff.

Somehow Armin had the idea that Jean didn't really have a whole lot in regards to baby items when he was that age. It certainly seemed that way, given how tightly he was hugging a good-sized stuffed rabbit toy.

He looked around a bit more when he caught sight of a rather bitter looking woman. From looking over to his other side, Jean noticed her too. Thankfully, Jean had an idea.

As the woman walked over to them (presumably to scold them for getting pregnant so early in life, and not being married), Jean lay an arm across Armin's shoulders. The way it was positioned showed off the simple wedding band on his finger.

In turn, Armin lay his own hand on Jean's, displaying his lovely rose gold wedding ring as well. For good measure, Jean leaned in and kissed Armin on the cheek.

These tactics seemed to have worked; the woman took notice of their rings, and stopped in her tracks. Instead, she turned and walked off, clearly displeased at being thwarted.

"Thank you," Armin whispered as soon as the woman was out of earshot.

"Anything for you, babe," Jean whispered back.

...

Back at Marco's house, the two went over their meager purchases. There wasn't much to fawn over, but it was better than nothing.

It was a good start at least.

"Promise you'll keep looking for a job after tonight?" Armin said to him.

Jean nodded, holding up a onesie with a rabbit on the chest. "I will. Someone's gotta hire me sooner or later, right?"

...

After the baby stuff was folded up and put away, Jean and Armin had the house to themselves. Naturally, they were going to take advantage of this.

Armin watched with a half-lidded expression as Jean was tenderly kissing his foot, and went slowly upward. He was totally naked, feeling quite vulnerable (Jean still had his blue jeans on). When he was up far enough, he put both of his hands onto Armin's stomach, caressing the now hard bump of it. He then leaned in and pressed his ear against it.

"Hi there," came the gentle whisper. Armin knew the baby couldn't actually hear him at this point in pregnancy, but he didn't want to spoil Jean's good mood. "I'm gonna try to make your mommy feel really good. You alright with that?"

If nothing else, Jean was quite sweet when it came to this baby. It looked as if he would adjust to fatherhood quite well.

...

Eren looked absolutely devastated once he found Armin in study hall the next day. And for good reason.

Hearing the news that their football team lost miserably, Armin kind of expected Jean to be taking a sadistic pleasure from hearing it himself. To his surprise, Jean merely shrugged, and continued on with his math homework. No snarky comeback or anything.

"Fuck off outta here, Jaeger," he said while shooing Eren away. "Unless you know anything about digital roots." He actually looked to be hard at work, for once. Not that Eren cared about that part.

"At least we did better than when you were on the team, Horse-face." This wasn't true in the slightest. Eren just felt like trying to provoke Jean, for some reason.

For a little while, it appeared to be working; Jean paused in his homework, his hand trembling and clenched into a hard fist. It looked as though he were about to break the pencil he'd been using. His face was set into a slowly worsening scowl. Eren gave a smug grin, waiting for Jean to lose it and land himself in detention.

Then, Jean quick glanced over at Armin, and this displeasure melted away. He must've remembered the promise he made for their child's sake the other night. He took a deep breath, stilled his trembling hand, and continued working.

...

After school was let out for the day, Jean walked Armin to the local drugstore to get some over-the-counter vitamins. Jean was staring intently at two bottles he was comparing. Armin could see him suffer, at least internally.

"I don't need anything of a particularly strong dosage," Armin reminded him. "Just anything I can rely on in case my diet isn't good enough." Jean simply nodded, not looking up from his choices. Regardless of what he'd just been told, he was still going to get something of a decent value.

As he was doing that, Armin wandered off to another part of the drugstore. Near the registers, a bunch of cheap, knick-knacky junk sat collecting dust. Among them were a bunch of keychains with various quotes pertaining to love or marriage on them. As he rifled through them, he saw some particularly cheesy ones.

He also found a couple few that actually held some kind of value to him. It was just not really the ones pertaining to love, unfortunately. Armin quickly realized this, and started to get tears in his eyes.

"Hey." He jumped when he heard Jean talk to him so suddenly. "I just went for the cheapest brand since, y'know, money and-" He stopped when he saw Armin's face.

Then Jean didn't say anything else; he just strode over and pulled Armin into a hug. When he did this, Armin buried his face into Jean's chest.

...

That night, in bed, the two of them were hidden under a few blankets, on account of the sudden, severe chill in the air. Jean had already gotten to sleep, but Armin was having some trouble doing the same.

Try as he might, he simply couldn't get warm. Not even pressing his hands between his thighs helped very much.

"Jean?" He whispered loudly. "Jean." His efforts to get Jean to wake up resulted in Jean pulling one of his blankets over his head. So Armin resorted to pulling on it to uncover him again. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any sleep until this was sorted out, Jean sighed and looked over at Armin.

"Yeah?"

Armin scooted over to him. "Can you hold me? I'm cold..." He didn't have to ask twice. Armin felt himself be pulled in and held close to Jean's body, much like at the drugstore earlier today.

That seemed to have done the trick; the cold was practically melting away, replaced with cheek-reddening warmth. Armin tried not to get too annoyed with Jean's grabby hands getting a bit too familiar with his ass.

 ** _-a few days later-_**

Jean frowned at yet another rejection letter, this time from one of the local fast food establishments. To know that he was so pathetic as to not receive employment there really ate at him. Were it not for the fact that he and Armin were _still_ living with Marco, he'd have punched a hole in the wall in front of him.

He was getting desperate. Lately, Marco's smile had been getting a little tight around the edges. Although he'd been gracious and polite about everything, Jean and Armin both were aware they'd long overstayed their welcome.

"Another one...?" Jean looked up to see Armin had come in, and saw his mail. "Jean, this is getting ridiculous."

"Yeah, I know." He looked over at Armin's baby bump, which was starting to protrude out even more nowadays.

Armin frowned. "I just wish you'd reconcile with your mother, or take Eren and Mikasa up on their offer to help. This is about more than your pride, you know; we have a child to think about." For whatever reason, hearing this made Jean extremely upset.

"You think I don't know that?! Look, I was gonna go on to college and become part of the football team there! I had to give that future up for all this! Instead of being a star quarterback for the team, I gotta learn to be a good dad! If you _honestly_ think I'm not trying hard enough to look for a job-"

"I don't think that, Jean!" Armin cried out to get Jean to stop. "I think you just need to take any help you're offered."

The two of them hadn't had a proper argument until now, strangely enough. But here they were, having one about how stubborn Jean was being. He was, fittingly enough, being a real horse's ass.

"Well, if Eren and Mikasa are so damn supportive, why don't you go marry them instead?! Obviously you don't care enough about me trying my damnedest in all this!"

This ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back. Before he could stop himself, Armin ended up slapping Jean hard across the face. He then proceeded to run out of the apartment.

Not even Jean calling for him to come back could stop him.

...

Eren was caught off guard by Armin barging into his place. His sobbing, however, guaranteed that he had a very good reason for doing it.

So infuriated was he, that Armin had to talk him down from contemplating murder. Mad as he was at Jean, he didn't need to be widowed at sixteen as a result. Then he had to do the same for Mikasa.

When all was said and done, Armin just ended up hiding in his old room. The other two had done little in the way of changing it, like they predicted he'd stay here again.

Armin never realized the near tragedy that would occur in the hours he'd been away.

 _ **-later that evening-**_

"911, state your emergency."

In a severe panic, Marco had dialed the emergency phone number when he'd got home. Neither Jean nor Armin answered his greeting, which deeply concerned him. A search of his place revealed no Armin, but he certainly found Jean.

Specifically, Jean was submerged in the bathtub, with an empty bottle of pills next to him. After that was a frantic rush to the phone and call for help.

"Yes, hi! My friend's not breathing!" Marco scurried back to the bathroom. "I found him in the bathtub, and he wasn't responding, and-"

Still in a hurry, Marco remained on the line for as long as he could. He proceeded to attempt CPR on Jean, which thankfully seemed to have worked; Jean coughed up water and started coughing and desperately gasping for air.

By the time an ambulance came, Marco was scared enough to have soiled himself.

...

Armin had sat down for dinner with Eren and Mikasa when his phone began ringing. He groaned and rolled his eyes when he saw it was Jean. The other two watched with expressions that seethed with annoyance.

"What do you want now, Jean?" Armin said in a deadpan voice as he got up to his feet to go into the other room. He then stuck a finger into his ear so he could hear a little better.

His deadpan changed into concern and worry when he realized it hadn't been Jean that called him:

"Marco? What's going on? Where's Jean?" His voice, which regressed into 'Uh-huh' and 'okay', became increasingly alarmed sounding. Eventually, it culminated in "Jean did what?!

"No, no, it's okay, Marco. I'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up and turned to look at the other two, his face pale with fear.

"Can one of you drive me to the hospital?"


	7. Chapter 7

Armin couldn't seem to be running fast enough, or at least not as quickly as he wanted to. No matter how quick he rode to the hospital, or how fast he went through it, it felt as though he were knee deep in quicksand.

Hearing what Jean had done to himself while he was gone made Armin's heart sink into his stomach. Somehow, Jean had gotten it into his mind to take his own life. Marco had called 911 in time, it sounded like, but Jean still had to be in the hospital.

Before reaching Jean's room, however, Armin was stopped by security. Apparently, he'd been going through far too quickly, and made a commotion. Breathlessly, he tried to explain.

"Please, you have to let me through!" He begged. "I have to go see my husband!" Armin even flashed his wedding ring as proof he was indeed married.

The security personnel was not swayed. As a result, Armin was left to remain in the waiting room with Eren and Mikasa. The entire time, he stood and paced while watching for any sign of Jean.

...

"Come on, Armin," Eren said as he and the other two had been waiting for at least fifteen minutes. "I don't get why you're bothering to wait to see if that horse's ass is okay. Last I checked, he's in the doghouse for running his mouth to you."

"That doesn't mean anything, Eren." Armin took a quick glance to make sure he didn't miss anything. "Just because I'm mad at him doesn't mean I want him to die."

He went back to watching intently, hoping for any good news. While he did, he placed his hands onto his baby bump, as if he were trying to give his unborn child a hug.

Jean didn't need to die before the birth of his child. That much was certain. After at least fifteen more minutes, Armin got something he had been waiting for:

"Armin Arlert-Kirstein?"

...

Each step brought Armin closer to Jean's room, and one step closer to hopefully getting answers. Armin also had an extreme feeling of dread, which only really went away after they passed the morgue.

"He's got a tube down his throat, so chances are he won't be able to talk," Nurse Rico said. Then she muttered about how she 'got called in on her day off' for some 'lowlife junkie'. Armin was afraid to try and convince her otherwise.

It felt like the two of them were the only people left in the hospital; Armin couldn't really hear any of the other patients in their own rooms, with their own loved ones. The hallways felt rather empty, as well. Armin barely registered his surroundings when he and Nurse Rico arrived at Jean's room.

"Just go back the way you came when you're done. Something goes wrong, page a nurse." She left him there, muttering under her breath as she walked away.

When she was gone, Armin stepped carefully into the room. In the bed, Jean was presumably (and hopefully) sleeping. Despite the circumstances, he looked calm and content. As quietly as he could, Armin tiptoed to him. Just as Nurse Rico had said, a tube was sticking out of Jean's mouth, enabling him to breathe a little better.

Though Armin had been moving in a somewhat muffled way, Jean's eyes still gradually fluttered open when he'd gotten close enough.

"Jean..." He whispered when he was at his bedside. Carefully, Jean turned his head and let his eyes wander upward until he maintained eye contact. He then started tapping on his bed, while also pointing to one of Armin's hands. Armin wasn't sure what Jean was really getting at, but gave him his hand anyway. Laying it down flat, palm side up, Jean started to write into it with his finger:

 _'You came.'_

Armin nodded. "Of course I did. I don't see any reason why I couldn't."

 _'Because I'm a moron.'_

"I wouldn't go that far. You did say something that hurt my feelings, but I didn't think you'd try and take your own life over it. I was mad, yes, and I still kind of am, but...you're my husband. It's not like everything's going to go perfectly for us."

Nodding in agreement, Jean looked away. He still seemed ashamed over what he'd said. To try and reassure him, Armin reached over and smoothed his hair out.

"It's going to take more than a few hurtful words to ruin a marriage. And, well, no sense going to bed angry, right?"

 _'Of course.'_

"So promise me, Jean. Promise me you'll never do anything this stupid again. Okay?"

 _'I promise.'_

Now Jean moved his hand up to place it over Armin's belly. It was hard to tell, but Armin could've sworn Jean was grinning as well as he could. He did smile a little himself when Jean began to tickle him. Then Jean suddenly drew his hand back, like it'd been burned.

"What is it?" Wide-eyed, Jean excitedly began writing into Armin's palm again, almost too fast for him to understand:

 _'I think it kicked!'_

Sure enough, when Armin felt around that spot, he could feel the fluttering movements that could only have come from their child. The little sign of life within Armin made his eyes well up.

...

" _What_ has gotten into you boys?!" The football season for their team had not been a good one. "We used to win games with no problem! Now we got nothing! It's like all of you are failing on purpose!"

Armin sat at the front of the bleachers, watching Coach Shadis chew out all the football players, pacing about and shouting like a drill sergeant.

"You're pathetic! All of you! Just looking at the lot of you makes me sick! Starting tomorrow, we're going to ramp up practice! Maybe then you won't be such screw-ups by the end of the season!"

Looking closely, Armin could see at least a couple of players on the verge of tears. Their miserable expressions remained after Coach Shadis left them all alone in the gymnasium.

All of them murmured amongst themselves when they grabbed their stuff to go home. Armin could actually hear one of them utter "We need Jean back." which was answered by a few soft sounds of agreement.

...

It was astounding how one could be held in high regard, and then come crashing down rather suddenly. But Eren got to experience that first-hand.

He entered the locker room after everyone else did; he should've noticed the first sign of something wrong when none of them returned his greeting. Of course, Eren just attributed that to the atrocious season record they'd been dealing with.

"So what do you got planned after school is over, Reiner?" Instead of giving him an actual response, Reiner just let out an angry and irritated grunt. He didn't bother acknowledging Eren after that, preferring to ignore him as he wandered naked into the showers to join a few of the others.

"Um...Okay... _Someone_ got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He turned his attention to one of the other players. "What about you, Bertholdt?"

Bertholdt just flat out ignored him as he tied his shoes. None of the other boys seemed to want to talk to him either. At least one of those boys leaving shoved Eren to the ground.

"What's gotten into all of you?!" He demanded of them when he got back to his feet and followed them.

He got no answer.

...

Eventually, Jean was declared well enough to leave the hospital, once everything looked to have exited his systems.

Finally, after what felt like a total eternity, Jean got what he was hoping for. He now walked behind his new boss Erwin as the latter showed him around the auto repair shop.

Erwin, in a stroke of luck (or maybe pity), must've decided that having a married seventeen year old father to be wouldn't be so bad. Although Jean knew next to nothing about cars, Erwin was willing to train him.

"Most of the workers here bring their own food here for their breaks," Erwin told Jean as they entered the slightly pathetic break room. "If you aren't one of those, however, we can provide one for you just fine."

"Thanks," Jean said to him in a low voice. "For, you know..." Erwin raised one of his bushy eyebrows, as he waited to hear what Jean was trying to tell him. "For, uh...everything."

Erwin waved it off. "No need to thank me. Just try to be a quick learner and you'll do fine."

In addition, not only was Erwin willing to hire Jean, he also had a house be available for rent. It wasn't the biggest or the most glamorous, but it was cozy and in good shape. It was at a reasonable price too, even with all the utilities included.

Simply put, Jean could work enough hours to cover the rent, then with any cash left over, he could spend as he saw fit.

Jean couldn't thank Erwin enough.

...

That evening, Jean was getting ready for a shower. Earlier he'd told Armin the good news, which got an enthusiastic response. Now, as Jean was checking himself over to make sure nothing was abnormal, he heard a gentle knock on the door.

"It's unlocked!" The door squealed open, revealing Armin peeking in before walking in properly.

"Jean? Can I..." He looked nervous as he gave his request. "Since I was going to be taking a shower sometime tonight anyway, can we...do that together?"

As he waited for Jean's answer, he fiddled with the tie on the bathrobe he had on. The way he looked as he did made him look sort of pure and innocent.

Jean sat where he was, a bit dumbfounded and taken aback. Then he nodded, unable to really say or do a whole lot else. Armin smiled, beginning to untie his robe and reveal himself.

The changes that Armin's body had already gone through were pretty noticeable. Alongside the obvious bit of his belly getting even bigger, Jean noticed his chest seemed to have grown a bit as well. He couldn't stop staring.

Even so, he tried playing it cool when the two of them stepped into the shower and turned it on. Jean then had to try and ignore the suggestive sounding moan Armin made when the warm water sluiced over them.

"You made sure the water wasn't too hot for me, right? I don't want the baby to get overheated or anything..."

"Of course I did. I'm not that inconsiderate of a husband."

Armin couldn't help but smile at that a little. He then got a little closer and let Jean hold him. He closed his eyes and felt his face press against Jean's chest. In turn, Jean rested his head on top of Armin's.

The sound of the water spraying over them both was quite relaxing. Armin closed his eyes and hummed a little, before saying what was on his mind.

"I almost lost you," he murmured over the water spraying. Jean didn't respond, So Armin went on. "I'm so sorry about all that-"

"No Armin," Jean then cut in. " _I'm_ sorry. I said and did some extremely stupid things. I could say it was the stress of constant job rejections, but...let's not kid myself."

Armin nodded. "But tomorrow's Saturday, so we can start packing and moving into our new home, right?"

"Right. Mister Smith is a lifesaver. And not only that, I'm sure Marco would really appreciate having his spare room back." Then came a brief laugh from the both of them. After that, the both of them proceeded to wash each other properly, before finishing up and getting ready for bed.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, after what little they had was packed up and ready to go, Jean and Armin were now in front of their new home. As they predicted, it was rather low in the size department.

"I knew it was little," Armin said, following Jean carrying one of their boxes inside, "but I didn't realize just how little."

Jean shrugged, carefully making sure he didn't drop anything. "Yeah, but everything else about it, I think is pretty good. It's close to the schools, it's right next to work, you name it.

"Heck, it's even got a nice yard for the kid to play in when it's old enough. You know, depending on how long we're going to live here."

Armin let the subject drop, and picked up the other box of their belongings (that was all they really had: two big boxes). He followed in after Jean to help him move in properly.

When all was said and done, Armin was still a bit dumbfounded at the size of the place. Having the kitchen be barely large enough to have the necessities would take some getting used to. To his relief, there was a bathroom they could use (although it too was little).

Armin came in with the box he was holding, to see Jean kneeling in front of a bare mattress that took up half of the already small living room (it was connected directly to the kitchen). Next to him, the box he carried in was open, revealing some mismatched bedding they'd gotten from their classmates and friends.

"I guess it isn't a bad little place," Armin said to Jean as he sat down next to him. "It's got the essentials, which is good. And there's room for a crib if we can save up to get one."

Jean simply nodded in agreement. He then pulled out a brand new coverlet and threw it onto the mattress.

...

Later that night, as the couple slept, Armin had a terrible nightmare.

It entailed him being held down by unknown faceless creatures. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get free. One of them flashed a sharp-toothed, terrifying grin as it pulled out a rusty box cutter. Surrounding him were numerous others, each one saying or calling him horrible things.

As the monster approaching him placed the box cutter to his distended belly, he began to scream and struggle harder. As he did, he could hear another voice rising above the rest. It sounded an awful lot like Jean.

"Armin! Armin!" It called out to him. He still heard it right as that box cutter pierced his flesh.

Then, the nightmare ended. Armin was still hearing Jean's voice, however. He woke up in a cold sweat, to the feeling of Jean shaking him awake.

"Armin, it's me! Come on, wake up!" It took some more shaking and calling out for Armin to be completely roused awake. Then Armin lay there, trembling and panting. His big blue eyes drifted over to Jean, who helped him sit up.

"Jean...?" Was really all he could say. Jean pulled him over and held him to his chest. He tried to say more, but was shushed.

"You looked like you were having a bad dream."

Armin swallowed. "I was." He then just let Jean rock him side to side, in the hopes of calming him down a little more. It had gotten to him so badly, he actually burst into tears.

"Shhh..." Jean tried wiping away Armin's face as best he could. "It's okay. It's over now. Whatever that nightmare involved, it's not real. You'll be okay." Then Jean reached down to rub Armin's baby bump, like he wanted to reassure their unborn child as well.

Once things seemed to have calmed down, Jean and Armin lay back down onto the mattress and settled into a much more comfortable sleep. Jean held his arms around Armin, hoping that would be good enough for him.

Armin doesn't have any more bad dreams that night.

...

It was the smell of pancakes, maple syrup, hot chocolate, and a lot of other things that Armin had woken up to the next morning. He was distracted by it enough that he almost didn't notice that Jean wasn't in bed with him.

Looking through the doorway to the kitchen, he could see Jean at the counter, putting something together. He scooted over to the other side of the mattress as best he could to get a better look.

Jean looked behind his shoulder and grinned, telling him a surprisingly cheery-sounding "Mornin'", before grabbing a tray off the counter that held the things Armin could smell. "Figured we needed something to eat before we head off to school today. The school's breakfast options tend to be shit."

Though Armin was a little dumbfounded, he just figured that Jean was trying to be a decent and caring spouse. Beyond that, he figured he'd leave it alone. He wasn't even going to ask where precisely Jean got all the fixings for any of that (Marco probably came by earlier and dropped it off or something).

...

"I must say, Mister Kirstein," Principal Pyxis said to Jean one afternoon during school. "Your grades are improving surprisingly well."

Jean was a little confused. When he had been called to the office, he had to listen to all of the other students jeer at him. He wasn't expecting to be praised for actually doing his schoolwork for once.

"Uh...thanks, Mister Pyxis." He tried to ignore the principal pulling a flask out from under his desk. "Is...is that why I was called here, though?"

Principal Pyxis stopped mid-swig. "Oh yes, of course. It seems you and Mister Arlert are due for an unannounced doctor's appointment. I don't quite understand how that works, but Doctor Zoe asks that the two of you arrive sometime after four today."

"Okay."

"Good!" The principal took another swig. "You may return to class. Ah, and by any chance could you send in Mister Wagner and Miss Carolina as you leave? I need to discuss their recent 'liaison' in the auditorium."

...

"So...what did Doctor Hanji say this appointment was about again?"

After school was let out for the day, Jean and Armin were on their way to see Doctor Hanji. Somehow both of them forgot to make plans for a 20 week ultrasound. Given that it was a milestone for Armin's pregnancy, a plan for after school was made.

"Apparently, it's to see if we want to know the gender."

"Do we want to know the gender?"

Armin shrugged. "I guess we can decide when we get there."

While the two continued on, Jean hadn't realized that as both of them were talking, they started holding hands. When he did, it got him to blush a little. It looked to be the same for Armin.

...

Seeing just how big their child had gotten in the last few months astounded the couple. Even Doctor Hanji seemed impressed by the progress.

"Well, look at that," she told them while she used her doppler wand. "Seems you two have a lively one here." To prove her right, the fetus was moving about quite a bit.

Even so, she was able to point out its heartbeat. Just like the last ultrasound, Jean and Armin stared in awe.

Later at home, right after suppertime, Jean and Armin were watching cartoons when there was a knocking on the front door. Armin stood up off their mattress to answer it, but was stopped by Jean taking hold of one of his swollen ankles.

"Huh...?"

Jean held surprisingly firm. "I looked out the window. It's the football team. Don't bother. I'll go talk to them."

"But Jean-"

"Just wait here until they leave." Figuring he was just looking out for him, Armin nodded and sat back down. His gaze followed Jean as he got up instead to deal with his former teammates.

Trying to keep his attention diverted, Armin stared at the old-timey television that had come with the house (thank goodness it had a digital converter box and basic cable. Erwin clearly cared very much about his tenants). Even so, he could hear Jean speaking with the others.

"What do you guys want?" Jean asked of them all in a cold voice. There then came one of the others trying to explain their shitty behavior of late. Along with that, there were offers to give him parental help, and asking if he would come back on the team (Coach Shadis himself had asked this, one of them added on).

Jean stood at the door, silent for what seemed like too long. Then he made a split second decision to slam the door in all their faces.

Armin didn't bother asking; he knew that didn't go all too well. If he didn't hear it from all of them, he could sense it when Jean came back to their room, seething with anger.

In an attempt to calm him down, Armin leaned over and held one of his hands. Sure enough, Jean's growing rage was starting to simmer down. To try and make it lessen further, Armin kissed the top of his shoulder, and held his arm up a little.

"If it makes you feel any better, even just a little bit," Armin whispered, "I've been needing some help with my chest; it's been kind of leaky today."

Now Jean's anger dissolved, and turned into some kind of arousal. He reached up and gently played with one of Armin's nipples through his shirt (actually one of Jean's shirts; they didn't really have the means to get maternity wear for later on). As if on cue, a wet spot began to form beneath it.

"...Yeah, I think I can help with that."

...

Before long, Armin was keening with bliss as Jean sucked on one nipple, while pinching and rubbing the other.

He could just feel the milk flowing out, into Jean's eager mouth. Jean was quite determined to get it out by any means necessary. Armin was quite enamoured with the way his mouth and fingers worked.

"Jean! Ah...Ah...Oh yes!" He bit one of his knuckles to try and calm himself down; he wanted to feel the relief and pleasure Jean could give him.

He'd be lying if he said it didn't turn him on (it did, very much); there wasn't much reason to let Jean know that bit, though. Instead, Armin reached down as discreetly as possible, and gently pleasured himself.

...

Later, once Armin felt better (or at the least had a not as leaky chest) and went to sleep, Jean remained awake. He sat at the tiny dinner table, in a chair that he could barely fit on.

He knew Armin would never say anything, but he was certain that he really didn't want to live here. Despite the convenient location, the size wasn't right for a growing family. It looked like he was going to have to swallow his pride after all, as much as he didn't want to.

Shaking, Jean reached over and pulled the kitchen phone they'd gotten as a gift (from their pal Christa and her girlfriend Ymir, interestingly enough). It was hard enough trying to calm himself down enough to punch in the numbers.

He managed to do it, though. It was just too hard to keep himself from trembling so much. When the call connected, he resisted the urge to hang up immediately.

"Hello?" Hearing the voice on the other end of the line nearly obliterated him. Taking a deep breath, Jean spoke as calmly and as evenly as he could:

"Hey...Mom."


	9. Chapter 9

The newlyweds ended up taking the bus to Jean's old apartment. Armin sat on the seat closest to the door, while Jean was standing up and holding onto the pull cord.

"After we visit my mom," Jean murmured to Armin, staying quiet so he didn't bother the other passengers, "you want to go out to dinner?"

Armin blinked. "Aren't you supposed to suggest dating _before_ marriage?"

Jean snorted at that. "Yeah, but I can't help but feel like you need some time to unwind. Never know if you'll get another chance after the baby's born."

"That is true." The rest of the way there was in silence, until Jean pulled the cord once their destination was in sight.

...

Once Jean and Armin got the apartment number, they made their way to the second floor of the complex. As they went up, Armin tried to ignore Jean's hand on his shoulder.

It'd been a few weeks since Jean last spoke to his mother. She seemed amiable enough over the phone, but seeing and hearing could be two different things. Jean wished they'd at least brought flowers or something nice like that.

"Let me know if anything she says bothers you too much," Jean told Armin in a low voice once they'd arrived and knocked on the door. "That way we can get the hell out of there as quickly as need be."

Armin just nodded. He and Jean turned to look back to see Jean's mother opening the door. Her face showed barely any real emotion. She and Jean stared at each other for what felt like forever.

"...Hi Mom," Jean said finally.

...

All three of them were sitting quietly in the main room of the apartment. Miss Kirstein was busy pouring tea for herself and the boys. Jean and Armin just sat across from her, keeping their gazes down at their feet.

"So..." Miss Kirstein began. "The two of you are living on your own now."

"Yes ma'am," Armin replied, forcing himself to make eye contact. "We got Marco to help us with all that, so it's all been done in his name. We pay rent to the owner of the house, though."

Miss Kirstein sipped at her tea, then stared at his swollen belly. "I have to say, it is a bit...surreal to know that's my grandbaby in there."

"Yeah..." Armin put a hand on his stomach, leaving it there for a moment, before grabbing a cup of tea for himself. He wasn't really thirsty, and the tea smelled bad, but it was better than nothing. He didn't tell his mother-in-law any of that, though.

...

After they were done visiting Jean's mother, Jean made good on his promise. Now that Miss Kirstein would be willing to try and help them, they didn't have to worry about money as much. It was still a serious problem, but hopefully they could have a bit more spending money now and then.

"Sorry it's nothing fancy," Jean told Armin while the both of them were sitting outside a McDonald's. "I wanted to try and save some cash in case we needed groceries." Armin just waved it off like it didn't matter to him.

"I was beginning to crave something salty, anyway," he replied before shoving a few fries into his mouth. He did look over at Jean's side and noticed something a bit off. "Where's yours?"

Even with a somewhat muffled speech, Jean was able to understand him.

"Wasn't really hungry." He peered into the almost empty paper bag in between them. "I think I'm good with just the bag fries."

Armin made a pouty look. "No way, those are the best ones." It was clear he wasn't upset, though, and was just trying to be playful.

Jean made a look right back at him. He maintained it while reaching into the bag and pulled out a couple fries, eating them right in front of Armin.

By the time he'd finished eating them, and stared at Armin for a little longer, neither of them could keep a straight face anymore. They both pulled back and started laughing; for what reason exactly, neither of them were sure.

They were still in a good mood once they were finished and the bag was thrown away (after being emptied of its loose fries, of course). On the way back to the house, Armin rested his head on Jean's shoulder.

...

When the two of them were in bed that night, Jean was having a hard time getting to sleep. He kept tossing and turning, which resulted in him inadvertently pulling the blankets off of Armin.

"Jean?!" Armin certainly sounded irritated enough. It wasn't like Jean could see him very well; there was nothing but pure pitch black surrounding them both.

"Hm? Oh, sorry Armin," Jean said as he threw the blanket back over him. "Didn't meant to bother you, go back to sleep."

But Armin didn't go back to sleep. "Why are you even up at this hour in the first place?"

Jean groaned as he sat up and rubbed the side of his head. "Just got a lot on my mind, is all."

"Like what?" Armin's tone of voice had noticeably softened. "Is it something you can tell me?"

To Armin's question came an 'I dunno' before an actual answer. "I guess for one, whether or not I made the right choice in turning down the football team's invitation."

"I mean, I was really wanting to join the team again. Well, at first anyway. Then later on, I figured..." He threw up his hands before letting them collapse in his lap. By this time, Armin was rubbing his back and shoulders.

"I figured, is that really so important? Come on, I'm a senior, it won't be long before that really stops being very important to me. I'm not going to be a star quarterback at this point, and I'm...weirdly okay with it."

His pensiveness melted into solemn resignation. "I'm...okay with not being in football anymore. Huh."

Jean didn't say any more after that. He simply bowed his head down and let Armin try to relieve the tension in his upper back area.

The two of them slept well that night.

...

The amount of motor oil on Jean's hands was astounding (and a little terrifying). By now, he didn't even bother wiping it off unless absolutely necessary. He really only had to work on Thursdays (after making a sort of deal with the principal and teachers) and the weekends. Hence the black hand prints on a lot of things. Erwin and the other workers didn't mind; they did it too.

Jean was in the middle of an oil change when one of his co-workers (he thinks it's Gunther, or Mike) kicked the sole of his boot.

"You got a lunch date, Kirstein," he said. Jean tried not to hit his forehead on anything as he pushed himself back out.

"A what?" When he was completely out from under the car, Jean saw Armin standing a few feet away. In his hands was a large metal lunchbox, of which he was gripping the handle of rather tightly.

...

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything important," Armin said as he and Jean sat down in the break room.

Jean shook his head. "It was close to lunch time anyway." He took this quiet moment to unwrap an egg salad sandwich, then had a bite.

"Your co-workers seem nice enough."

"I think it's out of pity," Jean said when his mouth was clear again. "None of them have any idea what it's like to be a teen dad, so they just feel bad for me.

"I also got weird looks any time I said I was married. Well, I'd like to see them in my situation."

Armin raised an eyebrow as Jean kept talking. "Seventeen, married, and gonna be a dad. To all of them, I'm a loser who won't get anywhere in life. Kinda sucks."

Right before Armin could say anything about how that wasn't true in any way, he was stopped by a now familiar fluttering movement in his stomach.

"I think someone is telling you otherwise, Jean," he told him while holding a hand over the spot where most of the kicking had been.

No need to reiterate something said by an unborn child.

...

Back at school after lunch, Armin was sitting with Eren and Mikasa during their Home Ec class. Neither of them were really listening to the teacher, and instead were trying to finish up their remaining math problems before next period.

"Now class," Mister Freudenberg told everyone when he saw them. "You gotta pay attention to all this, if any of you plan on getting married anytime soon.

"Of course," he added with a smirk, "at least one of you already made that choice, so..."

Armin's face flushed a bright red. If Jean were here instead of at work, he'd probably risk detention (or even suspension) and punch Mister Freudenberg in the face for that.

But for now, he had to make do with Eren and Mikasa glaring at the teacher.

...

When Jean got home later that afternoon, Armin was curled up on the mattress under all the blankets.

"Armin...?" He could hear little moans and gasps of desperation. A closer look revealed that there was suspicious movement going on under all the layers of fabric. By then, it dawned on him what precisely Armin was doing. Because of this, he decided he was going to tease him a bit.

"Need a little help?" Armin was jolted out of his task at hand to see Jean bending down and smirking a bit deviously. Instead of telling him to buzz off, he nodded and moved to make room for him on the mattress.

According to what he said next, the baby was making him extremely horny for some inconceivable reason. He certainly would appreciate a little help with it.

Before long, Armin was seated in Jean's lap on the mattress, breathing deeply as he felt Jean carefully drag his long fingers across his uncovered, distended belly.

"You got some impressive stretch marks here," Jean murmured into Armin's ear, before his tongue began tracing along the cartilage.

"Yeah, sorry." Armin didn't understand why he felt the need to apologize; he did just in case, though. Jean, at least, was willing to try and make him feel better about them.

"I actually think they're really sexy." Hearing this made Armin blush; precisely why Jean found his stretch marks arousing, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. And he wouldn't be able to ask right now anyway; the way Jean nipped at his earlobe was rather distracting.

In time, the two of them managed to reach a sort of mutual orgasm. Armin reached his thanks to Jean's hands, while Jean got off from going the intercrural route.

It was while Jean was wiping his cum off of Armin's thighs that a certain phrase he wanted to say came to mind. By the time he wanted to say it, however, Armin was already in the process of drifting off to sleep (his thighs cleaned up thoroughly, of course).

"Armin?"

"Hm?"

Just as he was about to tell him, something inside Jean told him now wasn't really the time:

"...Never mind, it's nothing. Just go to sleep."

It went mostly unsaid when Jean turned the light off and plunged the house into near complete darkness. As a result, he ended up murmuring it into Armin's hair, as he held him closer while falling asleep himself:

"I love you."


	10. Chapter 10

In the very early morning, Jean and Armin could hear Jean's phone going off right next to their heads. An effort to burrow under the blankets and pillows was quickly rendered futile. They also tried to let whoever was calling give up. That didn't work, either.

Growling out of frustration and tiredness, Jean finally popped his head back out and grabbed his phone. He answered it with a slurred and groggy "Hello?"

Armin kept his eyes closed and tried ignoring the conversation. He couldn't hear the person calling, but Jean was annoyed at having to talk to someone at two in the morning.

"Yeah...Uh-huh...Yeah, hang on." Jean pulled himself out of bed and walked into the kitchen. The sound of the outside light being clicked on was heard. "Just leave it by the door, then. I'll get it when you come here."

Then he hung up. Jean didn't move for a few moments, staring at his phone, before going to sit down at the tiny kitchen table.

"Who was on the phone?" Armin sleepily asked from the other room.

"Oh, just Marco. He's bringing some stuff over that he figured we might need."

Armin squinted in confusion and irritation. "At this hour?"

"Yeah. Something about having to visit his grandmother this week, he won't be home. He wanted to deliver some extra things here before he left later today."

Jean rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Guess I ain't getting any more sleep then, huh? Good thing today's another inservice day..."

...

"How far along did you say you were, Armin?"

Along with Eren and Mikasa later that morning, Armin was sitting on a park bench eating an ice cream cone. A few feet away, Jean was at the cart paying for everyone's treat, along with his own.

The question got him to look up at them, with some melted strawberry ice cream on his upper lip.

"Huh? Oh..." He placed a hand onto his belly and gently pressed against it. "Twenty-six weeks, I think, according to Doctor Hanji."

As he was pressing against his stomach, he could feel the baby kick in response. Eren saw this, and blew a raspberry directed specifically at Jean.

"I thought a pregnancy with a human was different than with a foal."

Not liking that, Armin frowned and glowered at him. "Eren, please! He was nice enough to get you and Mikasa ice cream. It'd be nice if you cut back on the insults."

Mikasa did and said nothing to stop Eren from his verbal barbs toward Jean. It in fact looked as though she found them somewhat amusing; a tiny grin was on her face behind her chocolate fudge bar.

For Jean, he just tried to ignore Eren, and sat down next to Armin.

In turn, Armin moved so his feet were resting in Jean's lap; he wanted to get across what he wanted now without saying another word. Luckily, Jean seemed to know what he was trying to say; he stuck his ice cream bar into his mouth and removed Armin's sandals (actually Jean's sandals. He just said to keep them, even after the baby was born).

Without looking up at Eren and Mikasa, he started pressing his thumbs against one of Armin's once again swollen feet. As he did this, Armin grabbed hold of his bar, and held it up so he could take bites from it while his hands were busy.

For obvious reasons, Eren didn't like watching this. As Jean was massaging Armin's feet, he kept making gagging noises and mimicked forced vomiting. By now, even Mikasa was starting to get annoyed with him. Silently, she put a hand over his mouth, and shushed him.

Jean and Armin were then able to happily enjoy Armin getting a much-needed footrub, without any more unwanted commentary.

...

Dinner that night was just TV dinners and leftover lasagna (both courtesy of Marco). Neither of them really minded, though. It satisfied Armin's craving for cheese, if nothing else. He was consuming the remaining gravy from his Salisbury steak when Jean scooted over and put an arm across his shoulders.

"Hm?" Jean held him more closely as the both of them were watching whatever syndicated program was on TV Land.

"Do your tits need draining again?" Jean asked of him. "You haven't asked me to do that for a while now."

Armin shook his head. "I should be all right for now. I'll let you know when they start feeling full again, though."

"Okay then." There was some quiet watching of _The Andy Griffith Show,_ before Jean started talking again during a commercial break:

"...I'm sorry, Armin."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Armin looked over at him to see what precisely he meant.

"...What for?"

Jean exhaled deeply through his nose. "Everything, I guess. If it weren't for me wanting to get some action six and a half months ago, you'd probably be on your way to getting a college degree by now or...something." He looked down at his plate, which held nothing else now besides some leftover sauce.

"But now? Thanks to me, you're sixteen years old, pregnant, and married. So I think it's safe to say you're not going to amount to very much now."

While he listened to all this, Armin lay his hand over Jean's, and gently squeezed his fingers.

"Whether or not that's true, you did do something a lot of teen dads usually don't." He weaved his fingers with Jean's now. "And that's take responsibility.

"It was a rather...unexpected method, yes, but still."

Armin squeezed Jean's hand again. Now he could say how he felt. "Either way, I can't thank you enough for not running off on me." Jean stared at him for a short while, before giving him a gentle grin.

...

It was during an unexpected nap the next day that Armin became aware of some loud banging noises. He lifted his head up and pulled off the worksheet stuck to his face before looking out the window.

Outside, he could see Jean squatting near the ground, hammering against a large piece of wood. A few other tools were scattered all around him.

"Jean?" He asked as he came out of the house to see what exactly was happening. Looking up, Jean stopped and stood back up to look at him better.

"Oh, hey. I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"You actually did, but that's not the point. What are you doing out here, anyway? I thought the neighbors might report us for a disturbance."

Now, Jean looked relatively sheepish, hiding the hammer that he'd been using behind his back and digging the front of his shoe into the ground.

"I was gonna keep it a secret 'til it was finished, but I'm almost done putting it together anyway, so..."

He stepped aside to let Armin take a better look. Once Armin saw what precisely he'd been working on, he gasped softly and felt his cheeks flush red.

"Yeah, I had to do a woodworking project for shop class, and one of the guys at work said I could use some wood to make stuff with, so..."

Armin was still taken aback by what Jean had chosen to do. Stepping closer, he couldn't stop staring at the cradle Jean was in the process of putting together.

"Oh, Jean..." He murmured, clearly touched.

"Yeah, Mister Jinn and the other students kind of picked on me for it. Said something about trying to get you to blow me, but...

"Also, since we don't really have a whole lot of room in the house, I tried going the, uh, 'Amish' route."

Armin reached down to run a finger across the wood panel in front of him, a gentle smile on his face.

"Well, I hope you get an A," he said while standing back up. Then he hugged him. "Do you want a blowjob now or later?"

Now it was Jean's turn to blush. "Um...Let's go with later. I'd like to get this finished first."

...

In Spanish class the next day, Jean had tried his best to keep in tune with Miss Dreyse's lesson. Now, in study hall, he attempted to recall everything she'd taught the class. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult; he could write down one-word answers.

Most of it pertained to what all of his favorite things were.

 _Comida: tortilla._

It didn't look right to call an omelet that, but Miss Dreyse insisted that that was the right word.

 _Color: azul._

 _Animal: ...caballo._

He didn't really have an actual favorite animal. It stung just to put that down, but it was better than leaving the space blank.

 _Clase: Nada._

 _Persona(s):_

It was to this one that Jean hesitated. No matter what he wanted to put down, it would feel like ass-kissing. In the end, he decided to put down all three (it did give leniency for multiple people).

 _Mi mama, mi esposo, mi mejor amigo._

Hopefully Miss Dreyse would take that as an acceptable answer.

He was scanning over his answers when he felt something hit the back of his head. Looking behind him now, he realized it was a paper airplane. A quick glance around the room showed him that Eren had thrown it.

Of course, Eren played dumb and just waggled his fingers at Jean, grinning at him a little too sweetly. Jean, to say the least, wasn't too happy about that.

It got worse when he read it and was confronted by the Spanish insult:

 _Eres un follador feo._

Jean wished that for once, he could defy Armin and give Eren a much desired black eye. But his other desire to be a good husband won out over that. In the end, and to Eren's great surprise, Jean simply crumpled the paper up and chucked it into the garbage can.

...

After school, Jean ended up extremely tired all of a sudden. He attributed it to trying to balance school, work, and impending fatherhood all at once. Whatever the reason was, it resulted in Armin having to carry him (or at least try to) over to their mattress. Jean didn't even try to protest as he was covered up with one of their bedsheets. As soon as his head was on the pillow, he was out like a light.

Making certain that he was comfortable, Armin leaned in and pressed a kiss onto Jean's temple.

"I think you need a break, Jean," he whispered. "Not even you can go on full speed forever without resting.

"And God knows you deserve some relaxation anyway."

Armin had just gotten back to his feet when he heard knocking at the door. Making certain Jean was still asleep, he padded over and opened it.

"Miss Kirstein!" He said in a loud whisper when he saw Jean's mother. "I...I wasn't expecting to see you today."

Jean's mother smiled, and stepped in. "I thought perhaps it'd be a good idea to bring some extra spending money over for the two of you. I doubt you'd want it in the bank or on a gift card, so..."

She pulled out a stack of cash, and handed it over to him. When Armin saw there were at least a couple of C-notes in the bunch, he gasped softly.

"I hope that can help with the rent?"

Unable to know what to say, Armin nodded, tears in his eyes. He couldn't help but step forward and hug his mother-in-law, so utterly grateful for the financial help. He then looked over at Jean, who hadn't stirred at any point during the conversation.

"I'm sure he'll be relieved for the help, too."


	11. Chapter 11

Early the next morning, Armin lay in bed next to a still very exhausted Jean. It wasn't quite as bad as yesterday, as he managed to wake himself up; he was still barely lucid, though. Even so, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked over at Armin.

"Mornin' you," he groaned out after he flipped over to face Armin. In response, Armin grinned sleepily.

"Morning, Jean." Now he put a hand on top of his stomach and rubbed it slowly. "And this one is saying 'Good morning, Daddy'."

Jean leaned downward and pressed his forehead against Armin's belly, right below his hand.

"Good morning to you as well, then," he cooed to his unborn child. Right after he did, Jean could feel the fluttering movements indicating that the baby heard him.

Both of them kept laying there on the mattress for a good while longer. As they did, Armin could detect a strange sort of glimmer in Jean's eyes. Almost like a sort of hunger.

He could now feel Jean's fingers gently dragging across his stretched skin. That dragging turned into pressing his palm against it. The whole time, his breathing was getting deeper and heavier. When Armin looked further down, he noticed that Jean was becoming quite hard under the sheets.

Jean's efforts to hide his raging boner were rendered futile; Armin was already reacting to it. As a result, Armin scooted over to wrap his arms around Jean. Now he was feeling himself becoming aroused.

"Jean, please..." He all but moaned out.

"Hm?"

"Please...Fuck me."

Without saying another word, Jean leaned in and pressed his lips against Armin's. His hand reached up and tangled fingers into Armin's hair. In response, Armin pressed both his hands against Jean's cheeks.

...

Before long, Armin had his pajama pants pulled off as Jean prepared him. He shivered and bit his lip when he felt those fingers press into him, after the initial burning and resistance.

"Nnnh...Ah! Ahh! Jean, please...!"

As one hand was being used to get Armin ready, the other was gently pressed against the top of his stomach. Jean leaned downward and pressed his lips to the top, maintaining eye contact with Armin.

"Fuck, it gets me so damn horny knowing my baby's inside you," he murmured while closing his eyes. Armin couldn't help but blush. A lot of the time he felt icky and unpleasant, along with bloated and fat. Knowing that Jean still enjoyed him sexually at least made him feel better.

Gently, and with great care, Jean pressed the tip of his cock into Armin. He stayed at that for a while, looking to Armin for the go ahead. It came in the form of Armin reaching forward and taking his hand.

"Wait." Jean started readjusting himself, in preparation to pull himself out. "I-I gotta put a condom on."

But Armin shook his head. "Don't worry about it; I trust you."

"You sure?"

Armin nodded. "I'm sure." He then lay back and relaxed himself, in an attempt to make it easier for Jean to penetrate him. "Besides, you already got the head in."

Right after saying that, Armin felt Jean push in about an inch further. His breathing hitched a bit, before he started moaning.

...

Later, Armin blushed heavily as Jean circled his tongue around his navel. The sensation against his bulging stomach was making him shiver. Jean's hot and wet mouth and tongue were just so skillfully used.

The feeling intensified when Jean licked upwards, latching his mouth onto one of Armin's nipples. As he did this, he pulled Armin into his lap and pressed himself back in, running his hands all over Armin's stomach (especially his stretch marks).

Armin shuddered as Jean slowly went in deeper, inch by inch, until he was completely inside him.

"Oh God..." Was all he could think to whisper. He tilted his head forward, resting it on the top of Jean's head. Slowly, Jean moved in and out, whilst rocking them both back and forth. Not once did he stop suckling at Armin's full breast.

Neither of them knew how long this all lasted; they only accounted for when the both of them came together. Armin clutched at Jean tightly, holding on for dear life as he felt Jean's cum spurt into him.

"A-Ahhh..." Armin loosened his grip and fell back onto the mattress when Jean started pulling out; when he was out, he could feel his cum starting to trickle out of him. He panted a bit too heavily, his arms reaching up to let Jean give him a hug. Now, instead of slow, drawn out fucking, the two simply held each other close.

Jean caressed Armin's cheek with his fingertips, looking him directly in the eyes. Without really thinking about it, the two of them leaned closer and pressed their lips together. It wasn't rough or harsh, but rather quite gentle and careful. Both of them pulled back only briefly for air, before going in to do it again.

After the second time, Jean flopped over next to Armin on the mattress. He lay an arm over his eyes as he did his best to regain his breath. Next to him, Armin was doing the same.

...

"I don't wanna go to school today," Jean slurred out while shaking his head. "I wanna stay home, and sleep." To his surprise, Armin had something to say to that:

"Then let's not go."

Jean lifted his arm up to look at him. "Hunh?"

"I said, let's not go to school today. I don't have to worry about my grades slipping, and you've improved quite a bit in the last few months.

"So...Let's just call in. I think we can do with a break. And if you have to work today, maybe call in?"

As if to try and confirm that what he'd just said was actually said, Jean paused and looked away. He then looked back at him and grinned, nodding.

...

A few hours later, once the proper phone calls were made, the couple were still laying in bed with the TV on as background sound. Armin was mostly occupied with watching Jean sleeping away.

He was getting the idea that Jean was just getting burned out, and was finally getting a day of rest he sorely needed.

He did certainly need one; every good husband did sometimes.

Armin was about to nod off himself, when he heard knocking at the door. Once he made sure Jean was still asleep, he got up (which at seven months along was something of a feat) and waddled over to answer it.

"Hello-" He was cut short as the visitors grabbed hold of one of his wrists, and yanked him away. In the process, a blindfold was tied over his eyes.

...

The next time Armin could see, once that blindfold was removed, the setting had changed drastically. Instead of the little house he lived in with Jean, he was back in Eren and Mikasa's apartment.

"Surprise!" Seeing all his friends, along with Jean's mother, Armin couldn't believe what he was seeing. Or rather he could, it was just an incredible sight to behold.

In front of him, he saw a large round table with presents, snacks, and a giant cake waiting to be pounced upon.

"Oh...!" He couldn't really put into words precisely how much this all meant to him.

"Yeah, we didn't have a whole lot of money to work with," Connie said while directing his girlfriend Sasha toward the hors d'oeuvres. "Maybe only a hundred fifty altogether, but we made do."

It was quite a lovely gesture, and only at a hundred fifty dollars. Armin wasn't sure what he was most impressed by.

...

Jean had woken up to a quiet house, to his worry. If Armin were going someplace, he'd have woken him up first to tell him. In an attempt at keeping his mind occupied, he stepped into the bathroom and got ready to take a shower.

It was rather more quiet than he could tolerate. The sound of spraying water did little to help. Even then, he stepped in to clean himself up. The hot water cascaded down his body, relaxing him immensely.

"Oh, God..." He couldn't stop from whispering to himself, as he dragged one of his hands down his body, taking hold of an inexplicable erection. Without really thinking about it, Jean began sliding his hand up and down, at a most pleasurable speed.

If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could imagine it was Armin's mouth on him instead. He was pretty good with it. He found it hard to believe that he'd been Armin's first (and at least so far only).

"Uhhnn..." He let out, feeling himself get closer to his peak. The very thought of Armin, with a swollen belly carrying Jean's unborn child, that alone managed to get him pretty far.

He didn't last much longer before he came, sliding down the shower wall and watching his cum wash down the drain with the water. As he did, he then rinsed off his hands and tried to catch his breath.

Wherever Armin was right now, he just hoped that he was okay.

...

So far, Armin couldn't believe the lengths his friends and mother-in-law went to, in order to make certain his baby shower was a good one. All the gifts he'd unwrapped lay on the table, among all the paper he'd ripped off of them.

"You're the best," he said to each and every one of them. Due to his wild pregnancy hormones, he couldn't help but weep a copious amount of hot tears of joy. "All of you, you're the best."

They all seemed to take it as a compliment, which was what he'd hoped for. There wasn't really any other way he could think of to show how much it all meant to him. (even the carseat, although neither of them owned a car. He wasn't about to tell Connie that, though)

His only real troubling thought was whether he and Jean could find a place in the house to put all of it. In order to try and keep his mind off of that, he helped himself to a slice of cake.

Somehow, Armin was glad that his child wasn't kicking up a storm today. Lately, the way it had been doing that pretty much took the wind out of him. It was making him wish that this pregnancy would hurry up and reach term.

He wasn't about to tell the others that, though.

 **-later that day-**

"And just where the hell have you been?" Jean was sitting on the chair in the kitchen when Armin got back. The tone of his voice had taken on a tone of a sinister quality.

"I-I...I was at a surprise baby shower." Hopefully Jean would notice the bag of gifts in his hands. It would lend credence to what he just told him. "I didn't expect it, either, so that's why I couldn't tell you."

Jean merely stood up and walked over to him, still looking displeased. "And you didn't bother to try and call me at any point?"

Seeing Jean loom over him in such a way was frightening. Armin placed a hand over his belly, in case Jean turned violent for any reason. In all honesty, Armin couldn't remember if he'd been able to grab hold of his phone.

"J-Jean...?" Armin could feel himself shaking profusely as Jean leaned in closer. Then he squeezed his eyes shut.

He was caught off guard when he felt Jean's lips against his forehead. Then he looked up to see a big happy grin on Jean's face now.

"I hope you had fun, then~!" Armin was still dumbfounded when he saw Jean go back to their mattress and curl up back into the blanket.

There were many times that made Armin disbelieving that he was married to Jean. This happened to be one of them.

He did appreciate Jean's concern for where he was, though.


	12. Chapter 12

**-about a month and a half later-**

If there were a God, Jean had a few choice words (and rude finger gestures) to say to Him.

Here he sat, out in the hallway of the Maternity Ward. He didn't dare look behind him to see all the newborns; it hurt knowing that his wouldn't be in there.

In the delivery suite just a few feet away, Jean could hear Armin weeping. It was clear that he was taking it a lot harder about all this. The pitiful sounds broke his heart.

All Jean could do right now was sit and wait for the others to arrive. In his hands, he had a firm grip on his phone, with which he'd just used. All he'd sent to them were five words (or rather, four words and a acronym):

 _Come to the hospital ASAP_

Despite everything, he wasn't able to shed tears; all he felt was numb and empty, his face gone pale. There wasn't much he could do at this point besides stare at his feet, and then getting up to check on Armin.

 **-a few hours earlier-**

It was during a school assembly when it started. Neither of them could remember what said assembly had been about. They just recalled sitting with their friends in the back rows, listening to Principal Pixis address various topics (the announcement of prom might have been one of them).

Jean was listening intently with his arm wrapped around Armin's shoulders. This made Eren shoot a death glare at him, but he didn't notice.

What he did notice was Armin making a strange noise, like he were sucking air in through his teeth. To try and calm him, Jean rubbed his arm up and down. It didn't appear to work.

"What is it?" He whispered out of the corner of his mouth. He kept his eyes on the principal, though.

Armin couldn't give him an answer he'd been hoping for. All he did was make the noise again, more urgent this time. Once he stopped, he asked him:

"How much longer is this stupid assembly going to last?"

"Hopefully not too much longer. Why, what's up?" Taking a deep breath, Armin dropped quite a verbal bombshell.

"I don't want to alarm you, Jean, but I think..." He gasped a little here before going on. "I think the baby is coming."

Despite his request, Jean's eyes bulged out. It was then he finally looked over at Armin.

"Did it just start now or...?" Armin shook his head. "How long, then?"

"Since I got up this morning at seven." It was roughly a quarter after twelve right now. "You were in the shower, so I didn't say anything; I didn't want you to get worried."

Jean frowned. "Armin, I'm your husband. Of course I'm gonna get worried." By now, he was no longer listening to the principal.

Eren's glowering worsened. Not even Mikasa patting his shoulder could placate him. Before any of the others knew it, he lost his temper and stood to his feet.

"Just take him to the fucking hospital already, you stupid horse-faced twat!" He shouted loud enough to get the entire school looking right at them. Principal Pixis was not amused.

"Something you wish to share with the student body, Mister Jaeger?"

Now Eren's face was turning red from embarrassment. Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and all their other friends stared at him wide-eyed as he felt his rage dissipate.

"No sir," he said in a small voice while he sat back down. Once he was seated again, the principal continued droning on.

...

As soon as the school day ended (Armin insisted on staying, despite being in labor), the young couple were hitching a ride with their friends Reiner and Bertholdt to the hospital. They made a promise to let them know when the child was born, so they could gush over it.

It was hard to pinpoint an exact timeline of events. He remembered nurses coming in and out of the rooms. Then he remembered Armin getting wheeled off to the delivery room.

There was screaming, a lot of it. There was Doctor Berner checking to see how far along Armin was. By then, the noise had reached agonizing levels. Any time that Armin arched his back to try and push, the scene pretty much turned hellish. Armin's face when pushing looked fairly animalistic.

Amidst all the screaming, moaning, and gasping, there was Jean holding him up from behind, trying to reassure and calm him. By then, Armin had become sweaty, his hair damp and matted against his neck.

It all turned into a complete blur. But in that blur, one last thing stood out alongside the rest:

The blood.

It was normal for there to be some blood present during delivery, but that was the problem; there was too much of it. There was blood on the doctor's hands, on all the sheets they were positioned on, and on Armin's thighs. In fact, Armin's thighs were pretty much soaked with blood.

In the end, all the pain and suffering had been for nothing. Right away, Jean and Armin knew something was terribly wrong when they didn't hear their baby cry out.

...

As he entered the darkened room (the only light source being the window, and that was covered with the blinds), Jean could see Armin laying on his side, his knees pulled up to his chest. He was turned facing away from the wall. On the other side of the room, a small bassinet sat, as if forgotten. A white cloth was on top, concealing a motionless being that never took a breath.

Despite there being next to no light in the room, Jean made his way over to the bassinet. He could only lift up a corner before he had to stop. What he did see of the infant, made him go weak at the knees.

By now, Armin had finally noticed Jean in the room. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and stared blankly.

"Isn't she beautiful?" He asked in a feeble voice. Jean turned away to face Armin, and nodded.

"Very beautiful." An awkward silence followed, before Armin looked away. He took his turn to speak again.

"I'm sorry, Jean."

Here, Jean moved forward and sat next to Armin, combing his fingers through his blond hair.

"You got nothing to be sorry for, Armin," he rasped.

Another silence ensued, punctuated by sniffles and sobs. Finally, he brought up one last thing:

"What are we going to tell the others?" Now Jean looked down at the floor, carefully thinking over his answer.

"The truth, I suppose."

...

There was something about Jean's message that didn't seem right. Nevertheless, the others all joined up at the hospital to see the new baby.

"You wanna guess how big its muzzle is?" Eren told everybody else snidely. Mikasa, not particularly amused, tapped him on the shoulder and shook her head.

"This is an important day, Eren," she told him. "We should at least be civil about it."

On their way to Armin's room, they talked amongst themselves. There was Reiner and Bertholdt saying they drove the married couple, so they should see the baby first. Then came Eren and Mikasa, stating they were Armin's friends and pseudo family, so they should be first to see it.

The chatting soon got to the point where the receptionist told them to knock it off. According to her, there'd been a death in that ward, and too much noise might make the bereaved parents upset. Sasha was also forced to relinquish any snacks she'd hidden in her bag (no outside food or drink). Once they quieted down, she let them all pass.

All of them looked to be oblivious as to what they were about to learn.

...

The approaching voices struck terror and fear into Armin's heart. He tried to do the impossible and curl up even more into himself.

"Jean," he said in a muffled voice. He didn't need to say anything more. Jean stood back up to his feet and slowly stepped out of the room. He turned his head in the direction of the owners of the talking, but otherwise kept his head downward.

"Well, hey there, new papa!" Once more, Connie was showing a complete lack of tact. "How's it feel having a new little tyke in your life?"

Next came Sasha. "Yeah! I wanna see the new arrival, too!"

Everyone went on with congratulations and requests to see the baby. About the only one who noticed Jean's strange behavior was Mikasa. She put up a hand to get everyone to shut up.

By the time she was able to, she could already see Jean's fist clenched and shaking. He still had yet to look up at any of them. Now, though, he was beginning to take deep, heaving breaths. He was on the verge of losing it, along with gritting his teeth.

Unfortunately, no one looked to be completely aware of this, least of all Eren.

"Hey, what's the problem, horse-face?" He asked in a teasing manner while poking Jean in the cheek. "You got a centaur, or did it end being an actual horse?"

Eren continued to goad him, despite the fact that everyone else now was seeing that something was wrong. "Oh, I get it! Armin found someone better and it turns out it isn't your kid! I suppose he was tired of riding the same horse all the time and-"

He was cut off by Jean suddenly growling, but didn't catch it in time before Jean clocked him in the jaw. He then heard everyone else gasping in shock and horror, as he stood back up and spat out a tooth that had come loose.

"Hey, what gives?!" He was about to retaliate before Mikasa grabbed him by the wrist. "Let me go!" Rather than do that, Mikasa forcibly pushed his arm down to his side. Then she gestured to Jean with her free hand.

"Leave him be, Eren," she told him in a near monotone voice. "He's hurting enough as it is."

Now Eren took a good long look at Jean's face. In the time it had taken for all of that, the dam had broken. Jean now had a copious amount of tears streaming down his cheeks.

From the back of the crowd, Marco stepped forth and pulled Jean into a hug. Now Jean could only really bury his face into Marco's shoulder and sob.

...

Everyone had been so excited to meet Jean and Armin's new baby. But now that aura of excitement turned into one of sorrow.

Jean sat next to Armin again on the hospital bed, once more trying hard not to cry. Armin, on the other hand, had cried himself out and was just laying in the same position he'd been in.

Meanwhile, everyone else stared at the covered bassinet in the corner of the room. At least one of them had approached it to get a better look, but Armin demanded that nobody look at it.

"Doctor Berner said the cause was 'placental abruption'," Jean said as he rubbed Armin's back. "Something about the placenta detaching too quickly, or something like that."

Armin was so still and pale while Jean was talking, many people would think he was already dead. Even so, he looked over with his half-lidded eyes, looking at everyone.

"I need a transfusion," he uttered weakly. To confirm this, Jean nodded.

"He lost too much blood during delivery," he clarified. "But thankfully, he's a universal recipient, so he should be okay there. But even then..."

Everybody took a closer look at Armin. If one looked close enough, they could see him shivering. But just before anyone could ask why that was the case, they were interrupted.

...

"I'm afraid you will all have to leave," Nurse Rico said to the visitors in a somewhat cold voice. "The patient is in no condition to entertain visitors."

"But Jean gets to stay-"

Nurse Rico shook her head. "That is because he is the patient's husband." The way she referred to Armin as 'the patient' seemed a bit callous. "But the rest of you must leave."

Seeing that she was in no mood to argue, the others all began leaving. Only Marco, Eren, and Mikasa stayed behind, and Marco didn't stay long.

"Just call me if either of you need anything," he said to Jean and Armin before leaving. This just left Eren and Mikasa. Those two looked over at Jean, who now had a dark look on his face. Mikasa remained as stoic as she could.

"We're sorry it came to this," she told the both of them. Eren, really not wanting to say those words to Jean, simply nodded.

Jean's expression worsened. "What are you sorry for? Isn't this what the two of you wanted?"

Eren and Mikasa were taken aback. Neither of them were able to retort back, though, as Nurse Rico reminded them that they had to go now. They had no choice, and could feel Jean's eyes glaring at the backs of their heads as they left the room.

If there truly were a God,-and right now Jean was seriously doubting that, but if there were-, he certainly didn't like Him right now. Above all else, however, he had only one thing to ask of the Almighty:

 ** _Why_**?


	13. Chapter 13

Despite not being the one currently hooked up to an IV, Jean could still feel intense hurt and pain on Armin's behalf.

Armin was sleeping right now. Blood was flowing into his veins via a tube inserted through his arm. Even so, Armin still looked as pale as a ghost.

His other arm lay across his stomach, giving Jean a decent view of his wedding ring. It got him to lift up his hand and gaze at his own.

Somehow, in the wake of this tragedy, he started to reminisce of their wedding day. He could recall many things from that day fairly clearly. He could remember the officiant that performed the ceremony (some guy by the name of Ian).

There were also the small bouquet of lilies Armin had been holding, even as they were signing their marriage certificate (he had to do it one-handed). He even could remember Eren and Mikasa being their witnesses (much to everyone's chagrin). Strangely enough, he could also recall that he and Armin got Chinese food after the ceremony.

It was only a few months ago, but it seemed more like years.

Reaching into his pocket, Jean checked to see if he had any spare change. He did, leading him to stand up and tiptoe to the door as quietly as he could manage-

"Jean!"

Hearing Armin cry out his name got Jean to freeze in his tracks. He turned his head in gradual increments to look back over at Armin.

"Don't go, Jean!" Upon going back a few steps to check on him, Jean realized that Armin's eyes were still closed. He was just talking in his sleep, presumably having an unusually vivid dream.

"Don't go...please..." His speech died down into mere whimpers, and then nothing. Seeing that he wasn't awake, Jean resumed his walk to the vending machines in the hospital waiting room.

On the way, he pulled out his phone and began dialing.

...

Marco had been quietly watching television when the phone began ringing. He watched a little more of it before muting it and going to answer. According to Caller ID, it was Jean.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Jean got right to the point, without any small talk. "You still got a key to the house?"

Marco answered that he did. "'Kay, good. Can you go over there and take out all the baby stuff?" In the background, the sound of a machine beeping and whirring could be heard. "I get the feeling that Armin's not going to want to see any of it when he gets home."

Although that didn't sound like a good idea, Marco agreed. He in fact stayed on the phone as he got into his car and drove over to Jean and Armin's house.

"Where do you want me to keep it all?" He asked. "The spare room at my apartment?" There was a pause, alongside some more sounds of an unknown mechanism.

"...Yeah." Now the sound was that of something rustling, then Jean's speech getting muffled. "If that's okay with you, I mean."

"Of course it's okay, Jean. You know that."

Shortly after, he hung up, driving the rest of the way to the house in silence.

...

By the time Jean got back to Armin's hospital room, he could see him sitting up on the side of his bed. Next to him was the IV stand his blood transfusion bag hung on.

"Armin?" He stepped closer, getting Armin's attention. "Armin, you gotta lay back down. You need your rest." Armin shook his head, and started caressing his chest. While he did that, he struggled to stand upright off the bed.

"I need to go to the bathroom, Jean."

But Jean was adamant. "That's what the catheter is for. Now come on: lay back down."

There was no resistance as Jean slowly approached and held up Armin's legs, placing them onto the bed and covering him up with the blanket. Armin simply lay there now, with little emotion, staring up at the ceiling. When Jean took a seat next to him, he slowly blinked once or twice.

"I feel so empty," he rasped out.

Jean could say nothing to comfort him. All he could think to do was take hold of Armin's other hand and gently squeeze it. Armin didn't seem to notice.

...

"Hello, Mister Smith?" Once more, Jean was on his phone, this time calling in to work. "Oh, hey, Mike. Is Mister Smith in?" Now he waited for his co-worker to get his boss. He already had everything he needed to say when Mister Smith did come to the phone.

"Hey, boss?" Jean kept his voice low, lest he risk waking Armin again (he'd fallen back asleep once his blood transfusion was complete). "How many vacation says do I have saved up? I think I'm going to need them..."

Once work had been notified, Jean went on and called the school.

"Principal Pixis? Yeah, Armin and I are going to need a few days off of school. It's...not like that. Well, it is, but it isn't... Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either, sir..."

Soon, all the calls were made, and Jean and Armin were free for a few days. It gave them enough time to get funeral arrangements in order.

Jean was going to wait until Armin woke back up, though. It wouldn't be a good idea to plan a baby's funeral without input from both the parents.

...

A couple of days later, Jean was seated by the crematorium in the funeral home. In his hands, he was holding an urn containing his daughter's ashes. The urn itself sported an engraving of a little teddy bear, which he ran a finger over.

It had been damn near unbearable to attend the cremation itself. Jean was beside himself with grief, but tried his best to get through it. The only ones besides him to attend were his mother and Armin (he had been allowed to at least be there for the ceremony and for saying goodbye to his little girl).

He elected to stay behind when the other two left; he said he wanted some time alone with his little princess.

All the memories he'd expected to make with his child were already fading away. With the ache in his heart worsening, Jean held the urn closer and pressed it against his chest.

"Daddy will always love you," he whispered to the ashes that had (and should've) been his newborn daughter.

...

By the time Jean returned home, any sign of a coming child was gone. The crib was gone, as were any toys and clothes they'd managed to get (of which there weren't many). Marco had done a pretty good job with cleaning up.

"I guess you're home now, Alyssa," he said to the urn as he set it up someplace that it wouldn't get carelessly knocked over.

It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. The baby had been fine back when he and Armin hadn't really wanted it. Now that they realized they did in fact love the baby, she was taken from them.

Now, baby Alyssa sat up top a shelf, out of sight and out of mind. If Armin asked about her when he was released from the hospital, Jean knew where to find her.

...

That night, Armin woke up suddenly, hearing what he believed to be an infant's crying.

He'd been having an unusually vivid dream up until then. It had detailed the faceless creatures from last time now ripping the child out of him, and carrying it away.

"No, please!" He called out in vain to them. "Bring her back! Bring her back, please!"

Armin tried running after them, but they were too far away. He then had tripped and fallen, desperately reaching out to the creatures and begging them to bring his daughter back.

When he'd awoken, Armin wasn't entirely lucid. As a result, he proceeded to practically tear up his hospital room in search of his baby.

He'd managed to slow down when the realization hit him, but by then the room was an absolute mess. At some point during the destruction process, he'd managed to rip out his IV without him noticing.

Feeling more helpless than ever, Armin slumped against the wall and began sobbing. He didn't even really notice when a couple of the medical personnel came in to aid him.

...

School days for Eren and Mikasa seemed to have reached an all time low. The whispering that had once been directed at Jean and Armin were now centered around the both of them.

"Some friends! Not even there to help their buddy!"

"I hear they killed the baby themselves!"

"Like, I get being jealous, or concerned about the parents, but come on!"

No matter where the two went, or how long they stayed there, the gossip and rumors persisted. In fact, it got worse.

The two of them were even scorned by a few of their teachers. Miss Dreyse failed their Spanish exams, despite knowing that it passed beyond a doubt.

Home Ec was awful as well; none of the other students wanted to group up with them. Therefore, they were left on their own for their current group project. Mister Freudenberg did nothing about it. He even seemed to encourage it to an extent.

Eren also suffered when it came to football practice. The first time he showed up after the birth, Coach Shadis immediately benched him for the whole period. He was still on that bench while listening to the coach chew out the football team for yet another loss.

The two of them were very grateful to get home after the final bell.

...

During one of his visits to the hospital, Jean ended up helping Armin get himself clean. If nothing else, Armin was given a towel to preserve his modesty (and keep any important places dry).

Armin shuddered when he felt the cold washcloth make contact with his back. He gripped the mattress underneath him (the bedsheets had been stripped away to be washed), trying to not flinch and put himself in even more pain.

Behind him, Jean gently yet meticulously scrubbed him up. He made certain not to accidentally unhook Armin's IV while doing so.

Nothing was said between them. Nothing could be said. All that Armin could think of to say would involve more apologizing over their child's death. In turn, Jean would say it wasn't his fault (Because it wasn't), hopefully without getting too annoyed.

Jean had gotten over to the front side before pausing, which confused Armin.

"What is it?" He asked. By taking note of where his hand specifically was, he realized what Jean was hesitant over. "Oh...Go ahead, it's fine. It doesn't hurt as much right now..."

With permission granted, Jean continued. He tried not to make it so that Armin's heart monitor would suddenly reach an abrupt peak.

The way he washed, though, it was somehow putting Armin at ease. With a soft groan, Armin leaned back onto Jean and rested his head onto his shoulder. In turn, Jean made sure to be extra careful around any sore spots.

Once it was all over, Jean helped Armin into one of his more comfy shirts from home (it was soft and warm, and smelled nice. He must've had it washed before arriving to the hospital). Then he pulled him up off the bed so that the nurse could remake it.

The two stood and watched. Armin didn't even care that he was naked from the waist down. He just buried his face into Jean's chest and held it there. He just about drifted off to sleep right then and there, feeling Jean's fingers comb through his hair.

By the time the nurse finished making the bed and left, Armin was barely awake. This made it easier for Jean to carefully lay him down and cover him up with the blanket.

Armin was sound asleep in only a few short moments. Jean made certain to kiss him on the forehead, before whispering that he'd see him soon, and left to go home.


	14. Chapter 14

Jean couldn't sleep that night. Not only that, every remedy he tried failed miserably. The warm milk and honey he had earlier only made him need to use the bathroom. Counting sheep proved useless as well; he got past a hundred before realizing nothing was actually happening (and counting sheep was really kind of stupid anyway).

All Jean could do was sit up on the mattress, resting his head and arms on his knees. He didn't have a mirror nearby, but he was aware that the bags under his eyes were fairly ghastly looking. They felt pretty bad, at the very least.

Seeing as there was no way he was going to be asleep anytime soon, Jean got to his feet and grabbed his jacket (it was a bit chilly right now outside). Then he was out walking to get to Marco's apartment. While he was out, it was occurring to him why exactly he couldn't get any rest.

...

"I know I should've called before I came here, but-"

Marco saw no problem with letting Jean spend the rest of the night at his place, phone call or not. He was at first irritated with being woken up at such a late hour, but softened up upon realizing that Jean really just needed someone to talk to.

His apartment was closer to the hospital, anyway.

"Sounds to me like being alone isn't a good idea for you right now," Marco said to Jean as he handed him a can of pop.

"No," Jean uttered out, actually forgetting about the can he was holding right away. "It's not good for Armin to be alone, either. If anyone needs the support, it's him."

Once he remembered that he still had a can in his hand, Jean cracked it open and chugged at least half of it in one go.

"I'm supposed to be holding Alyssa right now," he said right after finishing his drink. He rubbed his hand over his eyes to wipe away any tears. "You know, holding her, changing her, singing to her, all that stuff?" Then Jean paused.

"...I want my little girl, Marco."

...

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Armin was similarly unable to get some shuteye. The amount of pain, physical and emotional, was staggering.

The room was still dark, and Armin still couldn't get comfortable. The shirt that Jean had put on him had long since gone cold.

He did hear earlier that possibly going home tomorrow would be an option. He honestly didn't really care, though. Right now all he really wanted was to get some sleep.

Armin looked over at the IV currently pulsing blood into his veins. He was relieved that his life wasn't in danger from blood loss right now.

It still didn't make him feel better, though.

In the room next to his, Armin could hear the sound of another baby breathing the air of this world, along with shouts of congratulations and tears of joy. Now he felt even worse.

It just reminded him that he went through excruciating and near debilitating pain for nothing.

...

When Jean arrived during visiting hours the next afternoon, Armin was still asleep. It took some effort to awaken him and get him ready to go home.

There were numerous demands that Armin continue to take better care of himself. The checkup showed that he was well enough to be discharged, but just barely. After a sort of blurring in time, Armin and Jean were finally home again come dusk.

Now, Armin was outside sitting in a rocking chair, gazing out across the front yard. He was wrapped up snugly in a large afghan throw, albeit with his bare feet sticking out from the bottom. His face betrayed little if any emotion. Above his head, a light fixture gave off a dim orange glow.

"Armin? It's getting dark, and it's starting to get cold too." Jean stepped out onto the tiling that was meant to be some kind of makeshift porch. "C'mon, you should come inside and eat. I heated up some homemade chicken and dumplings my mom brought over."

But Armin shook his head slowly, barely acknowledging that he'd just been spoken to.

"I'm not all that hungry," he whispered. But Jean persisted.

"At least have a little. You don't even have to eat a whole dumpling, just maybe part of one.

"I just want to make sure you're eating, okay?"

Armin merely sat and rocked for a few more seconds, before he got to his feet and padded back inside.

...

The majority of the chicken and dumplings that Jean's mother sent over had gone uneaten, and left in a Tupperware container in the fridge.

The married couple were in bed now. Although Jean remained awake, somehow Armin managed to fall asleep. He lay on his side, facing away from Jean.

Soon, the two of them would have to return to school, and Jean would have to go back to his job as well. There was no way either of them would be ready to do so.

Jean reached out to Armin, but stopped about halfway. He retracted his arm, looking away in contemplation. He then turned over to settle into his own sleeping position. Once getting comfortable, he finally started drifting off to sleep.

Just as quickly, however, he could feel Armin rolling over to press up against his back. In response, Jean turned again and held Armin against his chest. Almost instantly, Armin seemed to visibly relax.

To further the attempts at comfort, Jean then pulled Armin even closer and pressed his lips against Armin's forehead.

He remained that way until he went to sleep one last time, staying that way for the rest of the night.

...

In the early morning, when Jean awoke, he could see Armin outside in his rocking chair again, wrapped up in his afghan along with a quilt Jean's mother had given him. His eyes were closed, suggesting he was asleep once more. Quietly, he put his pants on and went outside.

When Armin heard the door open, his eyes slowly opened to see a shirtless Jean come out to stand next to him.

Armin didn't say anything to him, and Jean said nothing to him. Rather, Jean sat next to him and looked up, resting his head into his lap.

At this, Armin couldn't stop himself from giving a tiny smile. He reached down and began caressing Jean's face. While he did this, he could see a tear slip out onto Jean's cheek.

He didn't carry their child to term, but the baby's death wounded him greatly as well.

...

The change in academic status between the two spouses had become fairly harsh; many students thought they'd entered the Twilight Zone.

Originally, Jean was just scraping by in most things besides gym class. Now he had more acceptable grades ranging mostly from C to B plus. He even was getting an A minus in shop.

Armin, on the other hand, had the exact opposite happen. Once on top of the class, his own grades suddenly plummeted to a C minus at best. It terrified everyone, including himself.

It were as if Armin became an entirely different person after the birth (and death) of his daughter.

During lunchtime, Armin remained close to Jean, sitting with him instead of Eren and Mikasa. He picked at his food, taking a few small bites before just giving up on the whole thing and leaned on Jean's shoulder.

"Is today over yet?" He moaned out while he and Jean were on their way to their next classes. Then he kept repeating himself, sounding like a dreary broken record. "Is today over yet? Is today over yet?"

"Next class is the last one," Jean told him. "Then you can get home and rest."

...

When the school day was finally over, going home was precisely what the two of them did. Despite Eren and Mikasa trying to convince him otherwise, Armin refused to go visit them. He more or less just shut them out, like he did with nearly everyone else.

At this point, Jean's mother had come over to help clean things up and gather dirty laundry to bring to the laundromat (the house wasn't exactly big enough for a washer and dryer).

"He's like a skeleton laying there," she whispered to Jean as the two watched Armin, who was once more sleeping away on the mattress in one of Jean's shirts.

"Yeah...Hey, Mom?" She made a sound indicating that she was listening. "Would it be okay if we stayed with you for like a week or two? I think maybe Armin needs to be out of this house for a little while."

Jean's mother agreed wholeheartedly; any way she could help her son, she would.

...

Armin had been confused (and rightfully so) when Jean had told him to pack some clothes for a few days. Jean merely said that he would explain on the way.

Now, he was curled up in the blankets on Jean's old bed, which was surprisingly big enough for both of them. He glanced about the room, taking note of all the aged and faded posters hanging up on the walls.

It was coming back to him that this was where it all started. The night he and Jean slept together and conceived Alyssa all took place here.

Jean was in the shower, getting ready to go to work. Armin didn't see the point of it; all the motor oil and various other car fluids would end up somewhere on his person anyway.

When Jean exited the bathroom, he was dripping wet. One towel was tied around his waist, and another he was using on his wet hair. By then, he could see Armin curled up even more on the bed, as though trying to escape from the harsh reality that was their lives now.

He didn't say a word, though, and simply got to dressing into an old pair of overalls for work.

...

After Jean left for work, Armin had full run of the house (his mother-in-law had gone elsewhere). It led him to wander into the kitchen to find something to do, at least for a few minutes.

Jean's mother had everything in its rightful place; there wasn't so much as a dirty spoon left in the sink. It actually frightened him a little, how meticulous it all was.

Armin went to the cupboard to grab a cup for water when he saw them; a set of brand new glass baby bottles sitting in a box. The very sight of them caused Armin to stagger back and clap a hand over his mouth.

Proceeding to fall to his knees, Armin then fell over onto his side, beginning to cry loudly. He began huddling up into a ball and went on sobbing. The tears dripped off his face and onto the tile floor.

He remained there, crying his eyes out. At one point he paused to grab at his stomach, as though to try and convince himself that it was all a bad dream.

It wasn't a dream, which made him sob harder. He ultimately became so worked up, he began coughing and hiccuping uncontrollably.

Armin was still carrying on up until he felt himself suddenly black out.

...

The feeling of a cold rag against his forehead was what brought Armin back into a conscious state. Looking about, he realized that he was back in Jean's old room. Someone had to have carried him back here.

Armin's gaze came upon a note set on top of a close by nightstand. Reluctantly, he reached out to pick it up and read it:

 _Please don't over stress yourself like that again. You're in enough pain as it is; I wouldn't know what to do if you got worse. If you need anything, anything, please let me know so you don't risk hurting yourself more._

 _-your mother-in-law_


	15. Chapter 15

A few weeks passed. The hurt and agony everyone (especially the bereaved parents) felt didn't appear to diminish. Even so, life dragged on painfully.

Armin's seventeenth birthday had come and gone. He didn't celebrate it, apart from Jean buying him a large cupcake and sticking a candle into it.

"One of my co-workers told me about this bakery about a block from the car repair shop," he'd told him while lighting the candle and proffering the cupcake to him. "He says the smell is pretty great, so the actual baked goods should at least be all right."

Armin didn't say anything; he merely blew out the candle and slowly ate his treat. It didn't seem to have much of a discernible taste.

He didn't tell Jean that, though; no sense in hurting his feelings.

...

The next day was Saturday, to everyone's relief. Like always, Armin could be found in bed, wrapped up in all the blankets that were on there.

Jean was laying in bed next to him, sound asleep and apparently unaffected by the lack of coverings upon him. He didn't have to go into work today; another co-worker picked up his shift for him.

According to him, it was so that Armin wouldn't have to be home alone. His state of mind was a bit worrisome right now.

Even late at night, he could hear him weeping. It was during one of these particular nights that Jean felt like he needed to do something.

Armin's sobbing sounded rather pitiful, which only stopped when Armin felt himself being pulled backwards into Jean's chest.

"Uh...?" He felt Jean tracing a finger down and around his body. He reached upwards to then rub his thumb against his lips.

It was starting to become clear to Armin what Jean was trying to say to him. Or that was what he presumed. Instead, Armin was pulled out of bed, up to his feet.

"Jean, what are you-" He was promptly shushed, then pulled over to a nearby end table with a small radio on it.

Before he could properly comprehend what was happening, Jean had the radio on and tuned into some classical music station.

Armin wasn't entirely with whatever it was Jean had in mind. Even so, he let himself be swayed and twirled, and every so often he was dipped.

While this was happening, Armin rested his head against Jean's chest, closing his eyes and letting himself go into a place beyond here.

A place where all their troubles weren't that overwhelming.

...

 _Jean and Armin were standing right in front of a slightly rickety yet functional table. Across from them sat Justice Dietrich, who had just gotten Eren and Mikasa to sign as witnesses for this impromptu ceremony._

 _"Now then..." He said to them both as he stood up and pulled out a worn-out leather handbook. "Can the two of you turn to face each other for this next part?"_

 _Armin held his bouquet of lilies to his chest while doing what Justice Dietrich had requested of him. He looked up into Jean's intense eyes, while raising his left hand up to rest in-between both of Jean's. To his surprise, Jean was trembling (possibly with nervousness)._

 _Justice Dietrich cleared his throat after flipping through his handbook to the right page._

 _"Now Armin," he said to him. "I want you to repeat after me. 'I, Armin Arlert, take you, Jean Kirstein'..."_

 _"I, Armin Arlert, take you, Jean Kirstein..."_

 _The entire time, both of them could feel Eren glaring right at the side of Jean's head._

 _..._

The married couple remained quiet as the song on the radio ended, and another one began.

Instead of dancing along with the next song, the two kept embracing each other. Armin could feel one of Jean's hands reach up and tangle itself into his hair.

Jean's other hand reached downwards, stopping directly on top of Armin's chest. Armin did the same. The both of them could feel each other's heart beating, at a slightly elevated rate.

They both then leaned in to lock their lips together in a rather passionate manner.

It was clear what was about to happen.

...

 _Once Armin had finished speaking his vows, Justice Dietrich looked over at Jean. The latter seemed distracted, going by the way he was staring off into space. Again, he cleared his throat to get his attention._

 _"Now Jean, I want you to do the same. So repeat after me..."_

 _Jean nodded, making it clear he was listening and waiting to start._

 _"I, Jean Kirstein, take you, Armin Arlert..."_

 _"I, Jean Kirstein, take you, Armin Arlert..."_

 _It more or less went the same as Armin's did, just with the names reversed._

 _At the very least, it wasn't too complicated to follow._

 _..._

On the floor now, there lay Jean and Armin's shirts and pants.

Staring upwards at Jean, Armin's breathing had now taken on a more erratic rhythm. He watched as Jean reached down and hooked his fingers into the waistband of his shorts. He gave permission by nodding, lifting his hips up to make removing them easier.

Armin then threw his head back as Jean leaned downwards and took him in. The warmth and wetness of the inside of Jean's mouth was overwhelming.

"Ah...Ah...A-Ahhh!" His sweet voice cried out while Jean nuzzled and breathed in the scent of Armin's pubic hair. Then he sucked a little more forcefully, to Armin's complete pleasure.

"Jean! Oh, yes!" He writhed about, being held still when Jean took hold of his wrists and gently yet firmly grasped them. In return, Armin rested his thighs at either side of Jean's head.

Some time later, Armin's moaning and gasping in pleasure reached their peak. He lay back and relaxed as he came, to both his and Jean's delight. After he did, he lifted up a hand and clasped it with one of Jean's, weaving their fingers together.

...

 _"By the power vested in me and the law of the county," Justice Dietrich said once Jean and Armin's vows were spoken,the papers were signed, and the rings were exchanged, "I now pronounce you officially married. You may now kiss."_

 _When hearing these words, the newlyweds could also hear Eren making gagging noises while sticking a finger down his throat. The way Justice Dietrich glowered at him showed that his commentary was unwanted._

 _Jean and Armin then stepped closer, with Jean clasping Armin's free hand in both of his. After a moment of hesitation, Jean leaned his head down and pressed his lips against Armin's._

 _"I'll take really good care of you," he whispered as he pulled back. "I promise."_

 _His words made Armin blush from behind his flower bouquet._

 _..._

In bed, Jean and Armin were on their sides, as Jean pressed himself into a now well prepared Armin from behind. The gradual way he pushed in helped Armin get used to him at an acceptable pace.

To try and distract him from the pain, Jean left soft, insistent kisses everywhere he could on Armin's bared skin. Armin certainly loved it when he felt him press his lips below his ear.

"Is this all right?" Jean whispered into Armin's ear while he gradually got a little faster. "You want me to stop?"

It took Armin a few moments to catch his breath, before gasping out "Don't stop, please...!"

Neither of them said anything else; Jean simply settled on an acceptable thrusting speed. It was certainly one that pleased Armin.

Once Jean could feel himself reaching the point of no return, he buried his face into Armin's neck and shoulder and grunted in time with his thrusts. The entire time, Armin was crying out and begging for more.

After it was over, Armin sighed in bliss, letting it meld with that of Jean's groan of completion. Then the both of them lay still, basking in their afterglow.

...

In the morning, Armin woke to an empty bed. It was still warm, though, meaning Jean had to have just recently left.

Now left to his own devices, Armin got up and slipped on a long T-shirt and surprisingly revealing shorts. He then grabbed his afghan and quilt, wandering to any place he could sit and be alone with his thoughts.

To his surprise, he came upon Jean fashioning something up with his mother. It looked like a huge cloth sling, that was being hung up in the main room. In all honesty, it looked kind of ridiculous.

"What...?" He choked out, getting the other two's attention. "What is this?"

Jean kept quiet, patting the center of the makeshift hammock to entice Armin to climb in.

...

To his delight, Armin found himself to be quite comfy in his impromptu hammock. With his coverings and a soft pillow under his head, he was quite warm and content.

"I'm thinking I'm gonna try to convince Mister Smith to let us get one for the house," Jean said to him as he handed him the remote and a TV Guide. "It'd probably be easier to relax in than that old rocking chair we got."

Armin just nodded, nestled underneath his quilt and afghan. Jean almost envied him.

Then he remembered that this was meant to be an effort to comfort him in the wake of their baby's passing.

Because of that, he didn't envy him so much anymore.

...

The next doctor's appointment came about a week and a half later. Armin didn't want to go, but Doctor Hanji said that checking on the condition of his body was mandatory and of utmost importance.

Now that he was actually at his appointment, Armin could only lay on the examining table and stare upwards. Doctor Hanji was busy checking his vitals, making certain that nothing was too far into the danger zone.

Armin just wanted to cry. He also wanted to go home and curl up in his hammock and covers. If he had his way, he would never come back out.

"Well, I do see that your cholesterol levels are a little high," Doctor Hanji said to him while flipping through some papers. "But I assure you that that's normal after giving birth."

Now Armin just wanted to reach over and smack her; her voice was boring into his skull like a power drill.

...

On the way back to the apartment, Armin stopped by his and Jean's house. Why, he wasn't sure. He just knew that he was compelled to.

After a brief search inside, he came across a baby related item that Marco had probably overlooked:

A little stuffed rabbit. Once Armin pulled it out from under an end table, he held it tightly against his chest.

He didn't feel comfortable standing alone in the house anymore. It felt too much like his baby was haunting the place.

Quickly, while still holding the stuffed bunny, he left and returned to the apartment. Armin then climbed into his hammock and settled in.

Jean and his mother were nowhere to be found, which was odd. Usually, one if not both were home.

Armin tried not to let it bother him, and proceeded to turn to his side to take a nap.

...

It was a few hours later that Armin awoke to muffled (albeit still fairly audible) voices coming from the kitchen. One of them sounded very unhappy. He remained on his side, eavesdropping.

"I don't understand why he doesn't leave. The only reason we even got married in the first place was for that kid!"

A pause.

"Do you want him to leave you, Jean?"

"No! It's just that now that we don't have our baby, there's no point!

"Hell, early on he said that he and I were a couple of kids ourselves."

Jean suddenly began to sound a bit more agitated. "That's what we are; we aren't really a married couple! We're two kids playing house!"

Listening to his own words being used in this context did upset Armin a little. He drifted off to sleep while hearing one last thing:

"I wish I knew what to do..."


	16. Chapter 16

Jean was already in bed when Armin crawled in next to him (he decided that the hammock was meant mainly for napping) that night. He faced away from him as he adjusted to try and get comfortable. This was made a little difficult, given the aching and remaining discomfort he could somehow still feel from birth. Regardless, he tried his best.

"You all right?" Jean asked when he sensed Armin fidgeting about behind him.

"I'll be fine, sorry if I woke you up." When Armin settled for laying onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling in near complete darkness. While he contemplated things, something in particular came to mind:

"Our first anniversary is in a couple of weeks," he whispered, unsure if Jean had fallen asleep yet.

"Yeah?" This confirmed that he hadn't.

Armin nodded. "I'm...ashamed to admit that I still don't really know all that much about you. Almost an entire year has gone by, and that fact still bothers me. You're my husband; I should know these things."

Jean shrugged, lifting an arm up in the air as he did. "What's there to know about? I used to be star quarterback for the high school football team. I used to live with my mom. Right now I work in an auto repair shop.

"I also live in a cheap house because my job can't really pay all that much. I'm also seventeen years old and married. That's really all you need to know about me."

He rolled over onto his other side to look at Armin directly, reaching out to stroke his cheek with a finger.

"Well, okay. Maybe there's one more thing to know about me."

"Which is...?"

The answer surprised him, to say the least:

"I love you."

...

Due to the fact that Armin's initially spectacular grades took a severe nosedive from which they never completely recovered, he wasn't the one who gave the valedictorian speech on the day of graduation commencement. He was grateful to be able to graduate at all, really.

Armin kept his eyes focused on his feet as he listened in on Principal Pyxis beginning to call names in no particular order (no one in school really gave much of a damn about alphabetizing).

He was actually blushing when he heard both his name and Jean's called right next to each other. Then came a grin as he wrapped his arm around Jean's, hearing a few of the audience going "Awww" at the sight.

On their way back to their seats after receiving their diplomas, Jean also planted a gentle kiss onto one of Armin's cheeks.

"Congratulations, Armin," he whispered while pulling back. "And Happy Anniversary."

...

Once the two went home after the ceremony, both of them set their now framed diplomas on either side of their daughter's urn.

The very sight of said urn caused Armin to shed a few tears. It was enough for Jean to turn and hold him in his arms. When Armin could then feel a slight wetness on his head, it was then that he realized Jean was crying too.

"I just wish Alyssa were here to celebrate with us properly," he whispered. To that, Jean could only nod.

...

Another year and a half or so passed.

In that time, Jean managed to convince Mister Smith to let him work full time, now that he had graduated.

Though it meant he'd be gone longer during the day, it also meant that money wasn't going to be so tight. Hopefully this year, there would be slightly better Christmas presents.

Armin was sitting on the floor, next to the table holding their miniature Christmas tree. He smiled to himself while carefully wrapping up a small box.

Tomorrow was Christmas Day itself, and he was rather excited. This particular gift was one he intended to give to Jean as soon as possible.

"Do you think Daddy will like it?" He whispered to the urn holding his daughter's ashes. "I hope he will."

On cue, the door to their little house opened, followed by Jean falling dramatically onto the kitchen floor. Due to it being late in the evening, he was covered in a mixture of motor oil and snow.

"Jean?" Armin asked when he didn't get up right away. In response, he just got some type of groaning noise.

"So many oil changes..." Jean moaned out while rolling over and pushing himself up. "Damn holiday weekend..."

Jean let himself be pulled up off the floor, and led to their small kitchen table. He shook his head to get rid of the snow, before running his oil covered fingers through it.

"Sounds like you've had a rough day," Armin said while getting a rag wet and scrubbing it over Jean's head. "Well, hopefully our friends' Christmas party will make things better. We can bring home a bunch of cookies and maybe go out to buy eggnog."

It did sound nice, getting sweet treats to help mitigate the soreness that Jean was currently experiencing.

...

The party itself was nothing to write home about. It was really nothing more than a few of their old friends from high school gathering together. The holiday treats were indeed to die for, though.

Of course, the entire time they were there, Armin was anxious to get back home and give Jean his special present. He barely paid attention to the time when there was a gift exchange.

After they did get back home and put the stuff they received away (it was mostly books and horse related items; Eren could be such a prick sometimes), Armin went over to the tree and picked up the small wrapped box. Without hesitation, he headed back over and handed it to Jean.

"Oh, well, what's this?" Jean asked while he proceeded to unwrap it the moment it was in his hands. As he did, Armin knelt down next to him and took a hold of his upper arm.

The wrapping paper and long box fell to the floor, discarded and quickly forgotten about. Jean stared at the white stick in his hands, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh, Armin? What's...?"

Armin just squeezed Jean's arm, before pulling away and settling his hands down onto his thighs. "It's mine. This is a positive pregnancy test, and...it's mine. I'd estimate the time of conception to be around my birthday last month." Suddenly he felt quite nervous. It sounded as though Jean didn't like this present.

Thankfully, Jean leaned in himself and gently kissed Armin's cheek. When he pulled back, Armin could see a light dusting of pink on his cheeks, along with a tiny stream of tears rolling down his cheek. Then he went in for another kiss.

...

Ultimately, one thing led to another, ending with both of them laying in bed naked, sweaty, and panting. The two of them stared up at the ceiling, with one of their bed sheets covering their privates.

Jean rolled over and started kissing Armin's face and neck again, with a moan of satisfaction like if he'd just partook in the most delicious banquet.

While he did this, Armin could feel one of Jean's hands slide down his torso, resting on his stomach. From past experience, he was expecting to be doing this a lot in the next few months.

Then Jean slid the rest of himself down, pressing his lips softly against Armin's still flat belly. He settled himself in between Armin's legs and lay onto his stomach, resuming his affection.

"Mmm..." He now was rubbing his nose over where he believed the baby was currently located. "You're gonna get _so_ big. You're carrying my baby inside you, and that seriously turns me on."

Armin thought it was weird for Jean to have such an extreme pregnancy fetish, but still thought it was sort of cute nonetheless. It actually made him feel special and desirable, if somewhat embarrassed.

Going by how Jean went back up to Armin's face and continue lavishing attention upon him, it looked like he certainly did enjoy his present after all.

"Hopefully this time we're a little better prepared for it," Armin whispered as Jean started to trace a heart on his belly with his finger. Jean simply nodded, not letting himself be distracted.

After that came more cuddling and affectionate words. Armin couldn't stop from blushing when Jean kept whispering, cooing, and lavishing love onto him, as well as the unborn that was still probably just a bundle of cells at this point.

...

"Hi guys!" A few days later, before New Year's Eve, Marco answered the door cheerfully when he saw Jean and Armin had come to visit him. "What brings you here? The New Year's celebration isn't until tonight."

"We know," Armin said to him while he and Jean made their way to the spare bedroom. "We're just here to pick a few things up."

He didn't need to say any more. Going by the direction they were headed, it was clear that a little one was on the way.

But he was going to let them announce it themselves instead.

...

Their first doctor's appointment was done a few days after the new year. Like before, Jean and Armin waited in the room, expecting Doctor Hanji any minute now.

While they waited, Jean slowly dragged his finger across Armin's exposed belly. In an involuntary response, Armin shuddered and giggled.

"Jean, stop," he said. "That tickles!"

Rather than stop, Jean reached over and ran his fingers through Armin's hair. It felt nice and clean; Armin showered in preparation for this appointment.

He did pull back and sit up when Doctor Hanji came in to get started.

...

The expecting couple were now on their way home, strolling through the snow-blanketed park. Armin stayed by Jean's side, with one hand holding their ultrasound picture, and the other laying gently on his stomach.

"It's so tiny on here," he uttered while Jean kept him from slipping and sliding onto any hidden ice. "It's almost like it can't possibly be a human, but..." Now Jean slipped an arm over Armin's shoulders, taking a closer look for himself.

"And what do you know, it's a human we made," he said while pulling the photo out and holding on to it himself. "I must say, I'm quite a big fan of my own work."

Armin simply gave Jean a gentle shove. Then the two of them sobered up and became serious again.

"...Do you think there's a possibility of what happened the first time repeating itself?" Armin whispered.

Jean shrugged. "If it does, then it does. Shit happens."


	17. Chapter 17

One night, Armin relaxed with his head resting on top of his arms, feeling Jean's warm hands gently knead and press against his bare skin.

Initially he had his doubts about laying on his belly, but Jean reassured him that it was still early in pregnancy. He didn't need to worry too much right now about whether or not he was hurting their baby.

"Unnhh..." Armin couldn't stop from letting out a pleasured moan while feeling Jean move down to begin pressing against his hips. Then he felt him kissing his shoulder blades.

At the very least, Jean's pregnancy fetish could benefit Armin greatly. It was helping his self-esteem, if nothing else.

In between his torso and the mattress, Armin could now feel Jean's hands sliding up to his small breasts (left over from his first pregnancy). Jean himself pressed up more against Armin, his mouth reaching his ear. Once he felt his tongue against the shell of his ear, Armin shuddered.

"I wanna make you feel beautiful," Jean purred into Armin's ear now, while pinching and pulling at his nipples.

Armin just relaxed and let him do his thing.

...

Later on, after a late dinner, Armin was quietly taking his vitamins before bedtime. Next to him on the mattress, Jean was laying on his side rubbing his nose against Armin's uncovered stomach; he couldn't stop himself from lavishing constant attention upon his unborn child.

"You know, Jean, you can still do that tomorrow morning. The baby isn't going anywhere."

"I know," Jean told him in response. "I just can't help myself. Just knowing I put my baby into you, for some reason I think it's hot-"

He was then interrupted by an abrupt noise, one that sounded a little like fabric ripping. Looking up, Jean could see Armin's cheeks turning beet red.

"...What was that?"

Armin opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance to. By then, Jean caught a whiff of something nasty. In appropriate fashion, he recoiled back and covered his mouth and nose.

"Armin, holy shit! Was that you?!"

In pure embarrassment, Armin slowly nodded. Hopefully he could get some of that out now, so later on wouldn't be as unpleasant.

It was still embarrassing, though.

...

Lately Armin was becoming worried about Jean not eating as much as usual. So far today all he'd seen him consume were a few saltines, a cup of yogurt, and a couple glasses of water.

"Jean?" He decided to ask one morning, while dealing with morning sickness and having Jean hold back his hair. "Are you-" He was interrupted by another sudden lurch. When that was over with, he continued. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Better than you, it seems. Why?"

Armin coughed up a bit of residual vomit. "I'm just worried about you."

"Well, worry about yourself. You're the one making another human, not me."

...

The rest of Armin's second pregnancy went surprisingly calmly. He and Jean went to their checkups and ultrasound appointments, and they made absolutely certain that he was eating properly (Jean still wasn't eating quite as much as he used to, but Armin didn't want to confront him over that again).

During one night, early in Armin's seventh month, he was once more learning firsthand just how strong Jean's fetish was. He was laying on his side, reading a random tabloid Jean had gotten for him from the store.

He got to roughly in the middle of a celebrity interview before he could feel a rather amorous Jean start to caress his arm from behind. Along with that came some gentle kisses to Armin's neck and face.

"Seems like someone had a nice day off today," Armin said to him before tilting his head back.

"You know it." Jean let one of his hands trail down Armin's body, soon resting it on the front of Armin's enlarged stomach. Then he started licking Armin's cheek before going to his ear.

"So nice and big," he murmured as he dragged his fingers down a few of Armin's stretch marks. "You're heavy with my child and I love it."

Armin sighed in absolute bliss when one of Jean's fingers began drawing a circle around his navel. Then he did his best to readjust himself to give Jean better access to the rest of him.

"Ah-haaaannh..." His eyes rolled up a bit when Jean managed to wrap both arms around him. A small line of drool trickled down the side of his mouth.

Jean simply continued to kiss and fondle him. Armin loved each and every second of it.

"Feel that?" Jean rasped in Armin's ear while gently pressing against his stomach. "That's us in there. You and I made that little life together. It's my seed in your belly, my essence you've received and nurtured so well."

He kept going with the sensual talk as he then pulled Armin's tank top off, leaving Armin to try and cover his exposed chest.

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Jean told Armin when he started rubbing his hand across his upper arm. "I'm your husband, and I think you're gorgeous. I love seeing you exposed to me in this way. Seeing you vulnerable like this is really turning me on."

As though to reinforce his claim, Armin could feel Jean's rock hard cock poking against the back of his thigh. It was making him blush quite a bit. He blushed even more when Jean began kissing his shoulder and rubbing his hips.

"I wanna fuck you all night," Jean continued, as he then cupped his hands underneath Armin's baby bump. "I want you to feel me inside you, filling you up completely. Maybe we'll stay like that for the rest of the night; my nice thick cock buried deep inside you while I'm holding you close."

Armin couldn't stop from panting heavily while hearing all of this. He was letting out a good few moans as well.

It sounded like a plan.

...

The smell of musk and sweat permeated the air when Armin awakened early the next morning. He felt warm, sticky, and all out uncomfortable as he pried Jean's arm off of him.

Once Armin managed to pull himself to his feet, he lumbered on in to the bathroom. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he undressed, expecting today to be like most of the others.

He only really noticed something seemed off when he got into the shower. Even then, Armin tried paying it no mind. Only when the tightness and pain persisted did he realize that something was indeed wrong.

"Oh God..." Armin knew that it was much too early to be feeling this. Out of a slowly increasing fear, he cried out for Jean.

...

With a pair of sweatpants and some fairly bizarre bedhead, Jean came into the bathroom while scratching his ass.

"What?" He asked at the end of a yawn, making himself sound a bit obnoxious. Armin gestured for him to step closer using his head; his hands were being used to keep himself from slipping and falling.

Using as little speech as possible, Armin got Jean to realize that he might be going into preterm labor. That was really all Jean needed to hear to perk up and help.

It only took roughly a couple minutes to get Armin dried off and dressed in some pajamas. Even so, it felt like forever. Both were quiet on the way to the hospital, save for Armin trying to calm himself down.

...

Arriving at the hospital, Jean and Armin were quickly ushered into a delivery suite. Now, Armin's contractions were being monitored by some strange machine, attached to his belly with various wires and electrodes.

"Looks like we got Doctor Berner again," Jean said as he held Armin up from in between his thighs. "Just like last time, even."

Armin didn't give much of a response; all he could really do was keep taking deep breaths. To try and calm him down, Jean lay his hands on top of his shoulders and gently rubbed them. He also kissed the top of Armin's head.

"You're gonna be fine, Armin," he told him while pulling back. "This time can't be any worse than last time."

Again, no answer. Armin's breathing did start quickening, before turning into groans of pain. As soon as that started up, Jean quickly took hold of Armin's hand and let him squeeze it hard as he could. He did his best to hold on until his contraction passed.

By now, thankfully, Doctor Berner came in with a couple of nurses. He sat himself down in front of Armin to check his progress. While he did, the nurses removed all the wiring on Armin's stomach.

It didn't take too long for Doctor Berner to stand back up and pull off the rubber gloves he had on. A grim look was on his face.

"You don't seem to be making as much progress as you really should be," he told them. "Not to mention that you're a couple months early, but trying to prolong your pregnancy doesn't seem to be an option now. I hate to suggest it, but it looks as if you'll be taking a trip to the operating room."

...

It didn't seem very fair that the one person Armin wanted with him couldn't be in with him when he was getting a c section. Jean tried to reassure him, though.

"You're gonna do fine in there," he said to Armin while they waited for Doctor Berner and the nurses to come back to get him. "Trust me, these guys know what they're doing." Armin didn't seem entirely convinced.

"I'm scared, Jean," he whispered. "I'm really, really scared."

Jean squeezed his hand. "It'll be fine. I'll be waiting when you get finished." That seemed to have put Armin's mind at ease a little. It still felt like much too soon when the others arrived to take him.

...

The hospital staff pushed the gurney closer and closer to the OR doors, until they were forced open by said gurney pushing through them.

Even though Armin tried not to get too confused by what was happening, he still didn't know what exactly to do when he found himself on the operating table. He mostly just recalled a surgical cap being put over his hair, and staff milling about to get ready. Thankfully, a couple of the nurses stayed nearby to keep him calm.

"You're going to be fine," one of them said to him as the doctor got his surgical tools at the ready. "Doctor Berner is very good at this."

Armin tried to get a closer look, but Doctor Berner was already hidden from view. A different nurse came over and tied off a tourniquet right under his shoulder.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Nurse Petra said to him, like she could read his mind. By now, her face was mostly obscured by a surgical mask. "Nifa here and I will be here the whole time. We'll hold your hands for you, if that's okay?"

Armin looked over to Nurse Nifa (who also had a mask on). Both nurses were already holding his hands. Even so, he nodded.

"Yeah, that's fine." In all honesty, he'd have preferred it to have been Jean. No sense in being picky right now, though.

"So who was that young man in the room with you?" Nifa asked of him. "Would that be your husband?"

Armin nodded. "He's nineteen, and I'm eighteen."

"Oh my, so young!"

"Yeah, we...Ah!" He was briefly interrupted when another nurse carefully inserted an IV into the inside of his elbow. "We got married when we were still in high school, because of...Of..."

Armin trailed off, thinking they didn't want to hear about how he and Jean got married for a child that never came.

Now Armin felt a mask get strapped onto his face, with oxygen quickly beginning to flow. Both women gently squeezed Armin's hands when the mask was put on, as if to tell him that he'd be all right.

"They're going to put you under now, okay?" Nifa said to him as he felt the tourniquet be removed. Again, he nodded.

Sure enough, Armin could feel the general anesthesia starting to take effect. Before long, he was in a deep sleep, completely out by the time Doctor Berner made the first cut. The last thing he heard before he did slip into total unconsciousness was reassurance that he was in good hands.


	18. Chapter 18

Jean was honestly worried sick right now. Despite his efforts to calm and comfort Armin, he wondered if it were really he who needed the encouragement. That's what he'd been saying to himself, ever since he found his way to the chapel located in the hospital. Now, he was looking downwards at his feet, trying to find the right words.

Last time they were in this building, it ended in tragedy. Now Jean was hoping to make it clear that he didn't want it to happen again.

Images of Armin being cut open were flashing through his mind. He was being cut open to have another little human get taken out of him. It was honestly sort of terrifying. Jean tried to ignore them, but they just wouldn't disappear.

In the end, Jean simply clasped his hands together, his fingers woven with one another. He was found doing that while hunched over when a nurse came to find him.

...

"Mr. Kirstein?" Jean snapped himself out of it when he heard Nurse Petra calling for him. "If you would come with me, please?"

Jean nodded, standing up and following her. The entire time, numerous questions floated about in his mind:

 _Is the baby alive? Is it okay? What about Armin? Is he okay?_

At least two of those questions were answered when Nurse Petra brought him over to the NICU. It was then Jean caught sight of Nurse Nifa attending to an apparent newcomer to the place.

Somehow, he just knew that that was the one. His eyes didn't once leave it while putting on some kind of sterile outfit over his regular clothing.

...

"Here we go," Nurse Nifa loudly whispered when Jean came in. "Say hello, Daddy. We've been waiting to meet you."

Jean was awed into silence as he stepped closer, and closer. The baby said to be his was covered in wires and being closely monitored. He knelt down when he was close enough, placing his shaky hand flat against the side of the incubator.

"That's..." His throat and mouth suddenly felt very dry. Not only that, he couldn't seem to find the right words to say. "This is...That's my..."

Jean looked over the incubator. On the bottom of it, a piece of paper taped on proudly declared "Baby Arlert-Kirstein" was a boy. Not only that, he was a 'rainbow baby', whatever that was. Surrounding the words were also little rainbow stickers, to emphasize this.

Looking at his newborn son made Jean's heart ache something powerful. The fragile state he looked to be in just made Jean want to pick him up out of there and cradle him.

"He's really tiny," was the best he could think of saying then. Then he looked to Nurse Nifa, pointing at the baby. "Can I...?"

She nodded, giving him permission. After hesitating a bit, Jean put his other hand in through a hole in the incubator. He then carefully (or as carefully as he could) slipped a finger into one of the baby's miniature hands. When he did, he could've sworn the baby tried to squeeze it.

"He's actually a bit smaller than most babies born just shy of 28 weeks," Nurse Petra said behind him. "So he'll be here in the NICU for at least a few weeks."

"He's got a few breathing problems, and his organs aren't completely developed yet, but you're allowed to visit him as much as you like," Nurse Nifa added on.

Jean kept this all in mind as he pressed his forehead against the side of the incubator. The longer he gazed upon the newborn he helped make, the more he could feel his emotions building up inside him.

"Son..." He whispered mostly to himself. "This is my son. This is...my little boy."

He shut his eyes, breathing shakily now. Then Jean pulled a hand away and clutched his chest, now overwhelmed by it all. Hot tears began spilling out down his cheeks, indicative of many emotions; namely, joy at knowing that this was really happening, but also sorrow at the state his newborn child was in.

Jean tried to focus on the joy.

"Hey there, little guy," he whispered to the baby. "It's Daddy. I'm your Daddy." The magnitude of what he was saying then hit him in full force. He tried not to get too loud about it, though.

"I'm a dad...Oh my God, I'm a dad! I'm really a father now! I'm a father, I can't believe it!"

Now his tears were really pouring down. There was also a bit of laughing from him (mostly from persistent disbelief that he really was a dad now).

Jean couldn't stop himself from hugging the incubator, either.

"Thank you, God," he whispered. "Thank you...Thank you so much."

...

Later on, with much reluctance, Jean let go of the incubator holding his and Armin's baby. He instead asked the nurses to bring him to Armin's room.

Armin was still evidently sleeping off the anesthesia when Jean came in. He looked oddly at peace, or as much as he could be given he'd had a c-section. Jean was aware that underneath the bandages wrapped around his belly, a freshly cut scar with stitches was there.

After about fifteen minutes upon arriving at the recovery room, Armin's eyes began fluttering open.

...

Armin couldn't remember a thing from the moment he was put under to now. Going by his now flat belly and the feeling of a hand going through his hair, though, he knew it actually happened.

Slowly, he glanced over to see Jean at his bedside. Knowing that he kept his promise brought him immense joy.

"Jean..." But Armin was promptly shushed with a finger pressed against his lips.

"I said I'd be here," Jean murmured to him as he then pulled back. "What kind of husband would I be if I never did what I said I'd do?"

To that, Armin just smiled. Jean kept combing his fingers through his hair, so gently that it was almost lulling Armin back to sleep.

"The nurse said you did great in there," Jesn said now as he leaned in to kiss Armin on the cheek. Now Armin was blushing. "No serious complications or anything, besides going into early labor."

Hearing this reminded Armin about the baby that had been taken out of him.

"Is the baby all right? Is... Is it alive?" He questioned Jean while sitting up and holding one of Jean's hands. In return, Jean simply pushed Armin back down.

"Yes Armin, the baby is alive. He's really little since he's premature, but he's alive." Jean added one more thing to try and reassure Armin. "And he's beautiful."

...

After some begging and pleading, Jean and Armin finally convinced one of the nurses to bring Armin to see his newborn son.

Now Armin was being wheeled over tp get a glimpse of the baby. Seeing the state the poor thing was in, it was enough to almost immediately drive Armin to tears.

"You're right, Jean," he said as he wiped his face. "He's so tiny." A few sobs could be heard, although they were quickly replaced by a chuckle or two. "And he really is beautiful. He looks like you."

By now, the baby's eyes had opened, showing the honeyed shade of brown. A shock of brown hair to go along with it, and he really did look like a miniaturized Jean.

Much like before, Jean put a hand on the incubator in lieu of actually touching his son. Armin did the same thing, putting his hand on top of Jean's.

...

A little while later (after Armin was sent back to his hospital room to rest), Jean was made aware of several visitors at once. Nurse Nifa came into the room where Jean and Armin were, and let them know that some of their friends were in the building.

The two of them would've known anyway, given how loud said friends were in the hallway.

"Come on!" Connie was heard saying. "I wanna see Junior!"

"Yeah! I bet he's super cute!" Sasha added on.

Everyone was then making such a ruckus, causing Nurse Nifa to try and calm them all down. When she couldn't do it by herself, Nurse Petra had to step in and try to help.

Despite this, however, Armin and Jean couldn't help but smile. At least this time it was a more happy occasion-

"Come on, let us see our nephew!" Eren cried out as he and the others were now ushered away back to the waiting room.

Even though he felt bad that they had to be shooed off without seeing the new baby, Armin did breathe a sigh of relief. Then, he looked over at Jean, taking hold of his hand.

"Make sure they get to see the baby later, okay? That way they don't try and cause a riot," he whispered. Jean nodded, a smirk on his face.

...

During one of his later visits, Jean was confused when the nursing staff requested that he wear a button up shirt the next chance he could. He was even more confused when they told him to unbutton it the next time he did wear one.

Once the reason became clear, though, then Jean was happy to do it.

It was when his mother came to see her grandson that she saw Jean in a room with his child. The baby was tucked safely under his shirt, as Jean himself kept looking downwards at the little one. A TV was attached to the ceiling, airing a cartoon under closed-captioned silence.

"Oh, now isn't that precious," she said upon arriving. "It's my baby, with his baby." Jean simply looked up at her, and grinned a little.

"You got what me and Armin asked for, Mom?"

Miss Kirstein nodded, and pulled out a portable radio from a bag she was carrying. Along with that, she also pulled out a CD with various songs from around the world.

"Here we go," she told her son, bringing her voice down to a whisper. "Hopefully little Joaquin likes Eastern European lullabies."

"I'm sure he will, Mom," Jean answered while carefully readjusting Joaquin on his chest. "And if he doesn't, well, he's too full of lunch to care a whole lot." He paused, briefly going deep in thought.

"I still can't believe I'm a dad now," he went on after quickly shaking himself out of it. "I keep thinking I'm gonna wake up and the last couple of years were just some crazy dream. But that's not happened, so..."

Neither of them said anything more; they all just watched TV and relaxed to soothing music.

Jean didn't get too relaxed, however; he didn't want Joaquin to get dropped or smothered.


	19. Chapter 19

A few days after Joaquin was born, Armin was back home. He was still resting, though, at the request of Doctor Hanji and Doctor Berner. Jean, on the other hand, was getting ready to go up and see their son.

"Sure you don't want to come with?" He asked while kneeling on the mattress, buttoning up a faded long sleeve shirt. "I think Joaquin might like to see Mommy again."

"I think he'll be all right," Armin responded as he turned over to face Jean better. "I'd love to get up and go with you, but I don't want to disobey the doctor's orders."

To this, Jean shrugged. "Fair enough. Just let me or Mom know if it turns out you need anything."

...

As strange as it was to admit, Jean was actually starting to look forward to going to the NICU. It meant he could hold Joaquin close to his chest, and also sing and talk to him.

That was what he was doing now. Holding his newborn son just awoke something within him.

"Shhh," Jean had quietly said at one point, when Joaquin was starting to get a little fussy. "Shhh, baby, shhh. Calm down now, baby boy." To his relief, Joaquin did calm himself down.

"I bet you're starting to want to leave this place, Joaquin," Jean continued. "Well, just keep making progress and we'll have you home in no time!"

"Yeah, you get to bring your little colt home when it's big enough." It was by now that Jean's eyes narrowed upon hearing that voice. It looked like some of his friends came to see how he was doing.

...

Holding a conversation with his old classmates seemed a bit surreal to Jean now. Not only were they all out of school, but Jean was still holding Joaquin close to himself as he talked.

He also declined any requests for the others to hold his young son. The fear of any potential diseases was quite powerful, hence the protectiveness. Therefore the others had to be content with seeing Joaquin tucked away under Jean's shirt.

"Gotta love kangaroo care," Reiner said while he and Bertholdt tried making themselves more comfortable.

"Kangaroo care? But Jean isn't a kangaroo," Connie responded. Jean resisted the extreme urge to smack him upside the head for that.

...

The visit ended much too soon. Before he knew it, Jean was standing back out in the hallway, watching the nurses attend to Joaquin through the window. Seeing his baby still hooked up to so many wires was saddening enough as it was. The incubator he was in didn't really lift his spirits, either.

What hurt most of all, though, was listening to Joaquin's pitiful little cries. If Jean listened to them long enough, they almost sounded as if Joaquin were saying "Daddy, Daddy".

All Jean could do, however, was whisper a promise to his baby that he would come visit tomorrow.

Then he left before he could burst into tears, letting a few shaky sobs free as he went through the hallway back to the waiting room.

...

When Jean got back home, the scene there was devastating emotionally as well. Armin was sitting up on the mattress, his face in his hands and crying. He did pause to see Jean come in to the house.

"Jean!" He let out. "I didn't think you'd be back from the hospital yet. Or I thought maybe you'd be visiting Marco, or..."

Jean shut him up with a finger pressed against his lips. Then he got down onto his knees and patted his thighs, requesting Armin to sit (which he did).

"All right, now tell Daddy what's wrong."

Trying to ignore that way Jean referred to himself, Armin gave his reason. He didn't like how selfish he sounded.

"Well, you know how you have that one...interest? The one that makes you get turned on at the idea of me being with child?" An awkward conversation, and it was no doubt going to become even more so.

"Yeah? And?"

Armin's face turned deep red. "I guess I thought that after Joaquin was born, you wouldn't find me attractive anymore..."

He stopped, looking away for a few short moments, before Jean took hold of his chin and turned it back.

"That's what's been bothering you? You think I won't find you attractive just because you're not pregnant anymore?"

Jean embraced Armin and flopped down onto his back. He lifted a hand up and caressed Armin's cheek, thinking of the best way to put his current thoughts into words.

"Look, of course I still find you attractive. You're the one who birthed my children. Just because you aren't carrying one now doesn't mean I don't find you gorgeous." Here, Jean took hold of Armin's hand and kissed it. The way his eyes were glazing over meant he was starting to say things he hoped were erotic.

"These stretch marks you got?" Armin felt his hand slide up under his shirt, a finger caressing one of said marks. "They're a sign that you've carried life inside of you. That you've had a child, my child."

Now Jean's hand dragged itself upward, stopping on top of one of Armin's little breasts.

"And these? They're full of milk for feeding that child." He ran a thumb over Armin's now hardened nipple, eliciting a moan or two from Armin.

Jean then proceeded to run his hands all over Armin's body, causing him to practically shudder in near-orgasm.

"Just knowing that you're the mother of my baby is good enough for me, Armin," Jean said to him before pulling him closer to his chest. "That gets me pretty turned on, too."

All of this were enough to make Armin blush heavily. Were it not for the fact that he had to wait six weeks before having intercourse again, he'd jump Jean's bones immediately.

...

Later, in the darker hours of the night, a powerful thunderstorm had started to rage outside. As a result, the power over at Jean and Armin's side of town had unfortunately gone out. The both of them also had to experience the harsh lightning that could be seen through the curtains.

Now bundled up amongst all of their coverings, Armin was also held snugly in Jean's arms, enjoying the warmth and comfort that came with it. Jean was wide awake, no doubt worrying extensively about their baby son in the hospital. He very much hoped that the power hadn't gone out over there.

"Jean," Armin could be heard whispering. "I-I need to use the bathroom."

Without a word, Jean simply nodded and sat up. He reached over to take hold of a flashlight, and clicked it on. Then he led Armin by the hand, making sure he got there all right.

As they carefully walked through their small and narrow kitchen, Jean could hear (and feel) a dripping from above them. He'd have to contact his boss and see if he could do anything about that once it was daylight.

The two of them were already rather cold without their blankets (the temperature was dropping fairly early this year), so Armin tried to make it quick. While he went, he noticed Jean looked more tired than he usually would. Even after a busy day after the auto shop, he still had trouble keeping himself from knocking into everything.

It was on the way back to bed that Jean did actually collapse. Armin then had to lift him up onto his shoulders and carry him back.

...

Some time later, in the wee hours of the morning, Jean was quick to visit the hospital and see if Joaquin were all right.

To some form of uneasy relief, Jean saw that Joaquin was still very much alive. He did have a couple of nurses standing by his incubator and surveilling him, but that was pretty much normal.

Jean then felt tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes, when Joaquin started making squawking noises of discomfort. He couldn't thank them enough when he was finally let in for Kangaroo care.

...

Jean was now at ease (or as much as he could get), having Joaquin resting on his bare chest. He made sure that any tubes and wires hooked up to him weren't compromised or anything of that sort.

Hearing the occasional 'eh' sound from Joaquin also relieved him. He felt so much better holding his baby boy right next to his heart.

"Who's Daddy's special little guy? Yeah," He whispered as he tickled his son's tummy with a finger. "That's you, Keeny, and I'd give anything in the world for you to get better."

By now, Jean fished out his phone and took a picture of Joaquin sleeping. He grinned when he saved it, intending to show his co-workers the next time he came in to work.

...

When Jean did end up at work again some weeks later, the employees welcomed him back with open arms. As he had once promised them, he pulled out his phone and showed all of them.

"Well, now ain't he adorable," Gunther said.

"Indeed," Jean's boss Erwin added. "The spitting image of you, Kirstein." Mike simply chuckled and nodded, agreeing with the other two.

By now, Joaquin was beginning to grow at a more acceptable rate. He was still in the hospital, but was doing a lot better.

Jean was also grateful for his boss and coworkers having pooled some of their paychecks together, to get him an adorable patchwork quilt with all sorts of cute animals on it. He made certain to bring it along the next time he went up to the hospital.

After putting it through the laundry to deal with the smell of motor oil, of course.

...

When Jean was home one night, he was surprised to find that for once, Armin was trying to initiate relations. It had been six weeks, and Doctor Hanji had given them the okay, but until now, Armin had just been remaining in bed.

It was a pleasant surprise, if nothing else.

"I loved it when you would come inside me during my first pregnancy," Armin said, presumably imitating Jean's usual erotic sentiments. "Feeling you inside me in general, I loved all of that, and I still do."

"Yeah?" Jean was quick to catch on. "I loved it too. Fucking you hard from behind, holding your nice big belly full of my baby."

He ran a finger against Armin's cheek. "That still gets me so hard just thinking about it."

"And afterwards," Armin went on, while rubbing his nose with Jean's, "the way you'd start kissing and cuddling my stomach. All the nice things you would tell Alyssa..."

Once Armin mentioned the name of his daughter, the mood changed drastically. Neither of them seemed to care, though, quickly adapting to the new subject.

"Oh Jean...I remember you saying the sweetest things to her. And the way she'd kick when you said them, I loved all of it." He snuggled closer to him, letting him embrace him. "She knew what you were saying, Jean. I know she did."

Now the both of them were trembling, Jean holding Armin tighter against him.

"Why'd she have to die, Jean? Of all the births to end up dead, why'd it have to be hers?"

Jean said nothing at first, simply holding Armin and nuzzling his neck.

"Things just happen, I guess," he murmured. "Personally, right now, I'm hoping that she's looking over her little brother."


	20. Chapter 20

The big day finally arrived.

Jean was simply over the moon, as he brought Joaquin over to the baby carrier he'd gotten. He couldn't stop smiling as he quick changed his son's diaper (at a more regular size now, rather than the miniscule ones meant for preemies he started out with).

"Look at you, little buddy," he whispered to Joaquin as he was buckling him up. "You get to go home today! Bet you're excited." In response, Joaquin simply babbled. The sound was enough, though, to make Jean's heart absolutely swell with joy.

Jean was all smiles from the moment he got Joaquin checked out and on his way home.

...

The first night Joaquin came home, the atmosphere of the house seemed a bit off. Armin lay on his side, not looking at either of them. It were almost as if he were ignoring them both.

As expected of a baby needing something, Joaquin started fussing and making noises of discomfort. Armin, sadly, was in no mood to be motherly; all he did was cover his ears with his pillow. So it fell to Jean to figure out what the problem could be.

"What is it, little guy?" Jean whispered to Joaquin as he held him to his chest. "Are you hungry? Stinky? Lonely?"

It was actually starting to annoy Armin to hear Jean engage in baby talk. He growled before looking over at the two of them.

"Will you hurry up and figure out what's wrong with it?!" He snapped. "I'd like to try and get to sleep at some point tonight." He then flopped back onto his side, attempting to get comfy.

Jean was stunned at Armin's sudden outburst. He looked over at him while still trying to calm Joaquin down. He then slowly turned his head back to focus more on his baby.

It turned out Jean's first guess was correct; Joaquin was loudly desiring a nice bottle of pumped breast milk. Jean was of course happy to oblige, now sitting at the kitchen table while feeding and holding him.

"Oh, you're a hungry little guy, aren't you?" He commented as he watched his son greedily drink his milk. "Might want to calm down, or you might get sick-"

"Why do you bother feeding it?" Armin could be heard from the other room, asking in a loud yet monotone voice. "It's just going to get hungry again later."

Jean tried to ignore that, and kept attending to Joaquin.

...

"Don't be upset about Mommy," Jean later said on his way to Marco's. "He's just going through a tough time right now. Postpartum depression isn't all that fun, but he's at Uncle Eren and Aunt Mikasa's house right now. So don't worry."

"Eh," was the only thing Joaquin said in any sort of response to all that. He was asleep in his baby carriage, calmly sucking on his pacifier.

Jean was careful in picking Joaquin up without waking him. He made sure that he was well adjusted and balanced with the diaper bag on Jean's shoulder, before heading in.

...

Marco tried very hard not to tease Jean mercilessly about how much fatherhood had changed him. It was difficult enough not to make any comments about it.

"He's gotten so big," was what he ultimately ended up saying.

Indeed, if Marco didn't know any better, he'd have figured that Joaquin was a baby that managed to reach term (as opposed to being three months early).

He kept this in mind as he watched Jean lifting up Joaquin up in the air, before he brought him back down and kissed his cheek.

"Is you Daddy's miracle baby?" Jean asked his son in a rather goofy voice. "Is you? Is you a tough guy who showed prematurity who's boss?"

Joaquin was now giggling with joy, happy just to be with his daddy.

...

After another month and a half or so, the first of many ear infections reared its ugly head. It had first woken Jean up in the early morning, in the form of Joaquin crying awake like he usually did.

This time, however, it wasn't his usual crying for what he needed. It was more of a shriek. Right away, it got Jean to scramble over and try figuring out what the problem was.

"Keeny, what is it?" He loudly whispered, hoping that Armin wouldn't be woken up as well. Carefully, with the precision of carrying a tray of porcelain figurines, Jean lifted Joaquin out of his cradle and into the kitchen.

When he did the usual checks and came up with nothing, Jean gave his son another look over. As he was glancing around the head, he saw a strange brown substance coming out of Joaquin's left ear.

"Oh my God..." He whispered. He then looked at the nearest clock, showing it was a quarter after three. Doctor Berner wouldn't be in for another six or seven hours. With little else that could be done, Jean simply resorted to rubbing Joaquin's back in circles.

Between Jean's fussing and Joaquin's cries, Jean ended up catching a glimpse of a very disgruntled Armin dragging himself out of the main room. Behind him trailed his pillow and one of their bedsheets.

"I'm sleeping in the tub for the rest of the night," he grumbled as he forced himself to get to the bathroom. Jean was left staring after him, before getting back to Joaquin's trouble.

...

Even after the diagnosis (to Jean's shaky relief, Doctor Berner said that it was indeed an ear infection. At least now he knew what the problem was), Jean was at his wit's end in figuring out what exactly he could do. According to Doctor Berner, they had to wait it out. There were a few things they could do to try and soothe the pain, but ultimately they had to wait.

Now, Jean was holding a warm compress against Joaquin's ear, holding him with his ear elevated and watching cartoons on mute. Thankfully, Joaquin was sleeping right now. Still, Jean continued to recall the times he dealt with kangaroo care, and kept it in mind.

Although it had been several months now since Joaquin was born, Armin was still dealing with a severe bout of postpartum depression. Whenever Joaquin began crying, Armin would cover his ears up with a pillow, or the sheets.

"Can't you go outside and deal with that?" He mumbled under both of those things. "I'd like to get some sleep."

Jean harrumphed. "Armin, that's _all_ you've been doing since you got home from the hospital." Even so, he stood up and went outside (despite the weather beginning to get chilly again), covering Joaquin up with a thick blanket and kissing the top of his head underneath said blanket.

...

Ignoring the cries of the neighbors demanding he take the baby back into the house, Jean sat down into the rocking chair situated outside on the so-called patio. He made certain Joaquin didn't have to be subjected to any potential issues. His little boy would remain nice and warm.

Jean did, however, scowl when he saw Eren and Mikasa coming up the sidewalk. They were no doubt here to coddle and fuss over Armin (not that Jean didn't want to himself, but right now he had a sick child to worry about)

Much to his frustration and sadness, Jean could now see Armin perk up suddenly upon hearing his two best pals outside. Armin was then up and dressed, running out of the house to join them.

He at least had the decency to wave goodbye to Jean and Joaquin (the former of which reluctantly returned it) as he left with the other two.

Jean waited a couple of minutes after they were gone, then stood up and went back into the house to call his mother.

...

Much to Jean's surprise, his mother was quick to come over to the house. Apparently hearing that her precious grandson was ill woke something within her.

As a bonus, she brought over deep dish pizza and several two liters of Jean's favorite pop.

"Even the best fathers need a day of rest," she'd told him when he asked about the grocery bags she'd brought with her.

Now, Miss Kirstein held Joaquin close as their pizza baked in the tiny oven in the similarly tiny kitchen. Jean was in the other main room of the house, covered up with all the blankets he and Armin shared. He stared at the television screen that was still playing cartoons, oddly transfixed by it.

"It'll be okay, baby," Miss Kirstein whispered to her grandson as she balanced him and their pizza. "Your ear infection won't bother you forever."

She kept him in the crook of her arm while she got everything ready. Walking into the other room, Miss Kirstein handed Jean his plate and his drink. Jean didn't so much as look away from the screen.

...

Later in the day, Jean's mother was tucking her son in one-handed when Armin returned home. Contrary to what Jean had been saying, Armin looked quite upbeat and cheery. In his hands were quite a few bags of what was presumed to be clothes and other such items.

"Have a fun day out and about today?" She asked of him as she then carefully lay Joaquin into his cradle. Even with her frustration and disdain towards Armin right now, she tried not to let it be heard in her voice. When she was certain that Joaquin would be all right (she had him tilted to the side so as to help his ear not hurt so much), she stood up to face him better.

"Um..." All of Armin's cheerfulness vanished when she asked. "Yes, why?"

Miss Kirstein sighed. "I know you need time to get through your postpartum phase, but your responsibilities aren't going to go away if you just ignore them." She looked back over at Jean and Joaquin; both of them were very much asleep. Joaquin was sucking away on his pacifier, his father on the other hand quietly snoring.

"You have a very sick child, Armin. This is no time to be out and about when you feel like it."

Armin didn't seem to be listening very closely. All he was doing now was staring at his usual side of the bed. He waited until she was done saying what she needed to say, then said something vaguely related to all of it.

When Miss Kirstein finally left, Armin knelt down and proceeded to calmly unpack his purchases. The entire time, he barely looked over at the other two.


	21. Chapter 21

Despite the fears, constant illnesses, and doctor visits, Joaquin managed to make it to his first birthday. His father, of course, was overjoyed. Even though the boy had just got done enduring yet another ear infection, he still got a little birthday party with everyone.

"Look at you, buddy," Jean cooed as he held up his beloved son. "You so big now! You's a big guy, yeah!"

Hearing Jean engage in baby talk was still pretty embarrassing. At least it wasn't like Joaquin's first word ("Dada", which was typical of babies). Then Jean had been completely over the moon, never knowing when to shut up about it.

Jean was all smiles when he carried Joaquin into Connie's apartment, holding him against his chest and telling him how much he adored him. Armin walked beside him, not quite sharing his enthusiasm. He just looked over at their son, who was munching on one of his tiny fists. His big golden eyes darted about, seeing the change in scenery around him.

Armin envied the little boy, to be honest. He got to monopolize all of Jean's free time when he was home. Even just seeing Joaquin right now caused a sick wave of jealousy to rise in his stomach, like bile.

He wasn't even smiling as he then watched the girls (and Connie) fawn and squeal over Joaquin donning a little party hat, making good use of his designated smash cake.

...

Shortly after Joaquin's birthday party, he was ill again, this time presumably with the flu. He made noises of discomfort while Jean cared for him, the latter wearing a face mask while he tried warming up some food for his little one.

Once more, Armin was out and about with Eren and Mikasa. Jean wasn't going to admit it out loud anytime soon, but knowing Armin would rather be out with his friends instead of him and their son, it caused a painful ache in his chest.

Jean was now in the process of getting ready for work tomorrow when he heard a knock at the door. Carefully setting Joaquin down on the ground (Joaquin was able to take a few steps by now at this point), Jean went to answer who turned out to be Marco _and_ his mother.

"Uh...hey guys," he said to both of them. His mother said a quick "hello there" before going into the other room and gushing over her precious grandson.

"Careful Ma," Jean told her while pulling his face mask down to his chin. "He's sick again. So maybe hold back on the 'kissies'."

Miss Kirstein commented that she was aware of that, but picked Joaquin up anyway, holding him close in her arms. Joaquin himself squirmed in discomfort and sniffled, burying his face into his grandmother's shoulder. As for Marco, he gave Jean certain items to help with Joaquin's other baby related milestones.

"I hear someone's still teething," he told Jean as both of them watched Miss Kirstein dance around trying to comfort Joaquin.

"Yep. He's up to three now, I believe." Jean paused, changing the subject a little. "...I wish Armin were enthusiastic about all of this like you guys are."

Marco couldn't think of anything to say to that. So instead he clasped a hand onto Jean's shoulder and shook it.

...

Come evening, when Jean was trying to get Joaquin to go to sleep, that was when Armin actually came home.

"I'm back-" He was promptly shushed. Jean then whispered 'welcome home' before starting to rock Joaquin from side to side. Joaquin almost seemed to be fighting off sleep, and not doing it very well. There were also sounds of gurgling and the occasional "ah".

Armin tried not to flinch away as Joaquin reached out to him. Instead, he extended a finger and let him grasp it. Awkwardly enough, this was really about the closest Armin had gotten to his son since the latter's birth.

It was still heartbreaking to see him suffer from his constant colds and earaches, though.

...

While Armin and Joaquin slept deeply that night (albeit with Joaquin coughing in his sleep), Jean was up and staring out the window.

Deep in thought as he was, Jean could still think back to the days of three years ago. Those were the days of confusion, hardship, young love, and ultimately tragedy.

Weirdly enough, he also remembered the choices of Chinese food they ordered right after their wedding (crab rangoon and chicken egg rolls for him, egg drop soup for Armin, steamed buns for both of them). Along with that, Jean recalled Armin sneaking an egg roll off of his plate, when he thought he wasn't looking.

"I was starting to get a hankering for them," was what Armin's reasoning had been. Looking back on it now, Jean wondered if Armin had also been thinking of some equivalent to 'this is my husband now'.

Jean's mind then turned to more lurid memories, causing him to quickly get to the bathroom to deal with it.

...

 _Back when Armin was still carrying Alyssa, there had been a time when he was particularly horny._

 _It had been at the beach, while he and Jean were showering off all the sand and salt water from playing and frolicking about. By this time, Armin had to have been eight and a half months along with her. For reasons he couldn't really figure out, he was incredibly aroused. He stuck a hand down his swim trunks, and called for Jean._ _Once he explained his trouble, Jean was quite eager to soothe his raging lust._

 _That didn't mean Jean wasn't going to tease Armin, though._

 _"Uhh...Oh God!" Armin cried out as he felt Jean's hands slide up and press against his chest. His panting intensified when he then felt Jean's thumbs rub against his sensitive nipples._

 _It was incredible, the sensations Armin was feeling right now. He continued moaning in bliss as Jean pulled and pinched his nipples now._

 _"I love how so very big you are," Jean whispered into Armin's ear over the soft sound of the running water, while also placing gentle kisses onto his neck and shoulder. "Just look at you, carrying my baby. That gets me so hard."_

 _Sure enough, Armin could feel something hard pressing on the back of his thigh. He couldn't stop panting and tilting his head back, letting Jean now suck and bite at his skin._

 _"I know you love it, too," Jean continued on, purring sensually in between licking Armin's neck now. "You love being filled with my child, don't you?"_

 _Armin was too far gone to say very much. He simply nodded, letting Jean slide his hands down onto his baby bump._

 _"Ah! Unnhh, oh yes, Jean! M-more, please! More!" Was really all he could get out while Jean proceeded to caress and hold his stomach, hardened by the life being carried within._

 _"You just can't get enough of your husband teasing you, huh?" Jean told him. "Mmm, so nice and heavy with another life. Imagine how warm and safe it is inside you."_ _As though in response, Jean and Armin could both feel Alyssa begin kicking inside Armin. When Armin gently pressed his hands against his stomach to feel her, Jean did the same thing._

 _Jean then got down onto his knees and knelt in front of Armin, now proceeding to kiss and nuzzle Armin's baby bump. As he did, Jean pulled out his cock and proceeded to jerk himself off._ _This all continued on until climax was reached. Then both of them stayed where they were, satiated and content._

 _By then, the water from their shower continued to stream down their bodies._ _Of course, they didn't stay in there much longer. The water was getting cold, their fingers were getting pruney, and no doubt there would soon be dry feet to suffer through._

 _..._

 _The affection continued when they got back home, of course, with both of them in comfy pajamas instead of soaked swim trunks._

 _Jean made sure that Armin's feet, which were again beginning to swell, were elevated on a couple of pillows before slathering lotion on them. Armin himself lay back and relaxed, looking off to the side and absent-mindedly stroking his large belly._

 _Armin moaned contentedly as he felt Jean's thumbs and fingers expertly maneuver about the bloated looking feet. He also giggled upon feeling Jean teasingly play 'this little piggy' with his toes. Finally, he softly cried out as Jean's hands slid upward to continue their work._

 _It was while Jean was massaging Armin's thigh that he leaned forward to lay his cheek against Armin's stomach. He grinned dreamily as he felt his unborn child kicking again._

 _"How do you like it in there?" Jean asked his daughter as he now pressed his hands onto Armin's stomach again. "Is it nice and warm and safe in there? Do you like being inside Mommy?"_

 _He smirked, closing his eyes and softly rubbing the sides of Armin's stomach now. "I like to be inside Mommy too."_

 _Armin blushed furiously out of embarrassment when he said that. Jean, however, merely chuckled and nuzzled his nose against Armin's belly again. Alyssa simply gave her usual response._

 _..._

Not wishing to risk waking up Armin or their son, Jean found himself seated on the half-unfinished tile floor of their rather small bathroom. His legs were stretched out before him, somehow managing to span the whole length of the bathroom.

Jean was exhausted, finding himself nodding off. He was about to fall asleep right then and there before the door right next to him creaked open.

"Huh?" Jean didn't get much of a chance to say anything before Armin and Joaquin stepped in. Joaquin ran right over and climbed into Jean's lap, gently tapping his little stuffed teddy bear against his father's face. Armin just got to his knees and crawled over to be at Jean's side, throwing over them one of the sheets from their bed.

"Joaquin woke up and couldn't find his Daddy," Armin explained to him.

None of them said anything else after that. Jean did wrap his arms around both of them. He then leaned over and pressed his lips against Armin's forehead.

Against all better judgment, the little family slept like that in there for the rest of the night. Needless to say, all three of them were a bit stiff the next morning.


	22. Chapter 22

_The first few weeks or so after Joaquin's birth, he had been somewhat touch and go. The nurses worked hard to ensure his survival, but that meant Jean wasn't always able to be with him. Most of the time, Jean had to settle for staring forlornly through the window of the NICU._

 _This, of course, made the moments they did spend together far more special._

 _Jean remembered the first time he'd changed Joaquin's diaper. When the nurse handed one to him, he was dumbfounded at just how utterly tiny it was._

 _"You sure you didn't hand me something meant for a doll? Or a Chihuahua?" Once reassured that he was indeed given a diaper for his son, however, Jean quickly got to work._

 _Naturally, things didn't go completely smoothly at first. Jean was afraid that he was hurting Joaquin when the fussing and noises of discomfort persisted. Despite managing to clean him up and getting his diaper under his bottom, Jean was at a loss then._

 _"Uh..." He glanced over at the closest nurse. "How do I wrap him up now?"_

 _To his embarrassment, Nurse Petra stepped in and showed him the proper way to get it on Joaquin correctly. To try and calm the baby down, she instructed Jean to gently touch him on his head. That way he knew he didn't go far._

 _Regardless, Jean was thankful to get back to administering kangaroo care._ _Next time he changed a diaper, though, it went much better._

 _..._

"Lookit you, Keeny!" Jean was outside right now, laying on the ground with his legs up in the air. On his feet he was carefully balancing his son, who was shrieking with laughter. "Lookit you, you're flying! You're flying!"

Joaquin loved it when he got to fly with his daddy. The moment Jean returned home from work for the day, Joaquin was always there to greet him. The sight of a giggling little boy stumbling towards him for a hug always put a smile on Jean's face.

At that moment, Armin came out of the house, holding his wallet and counting the bills in it. He looked a bit too focused on them, until he looked up towards his husband and son.

"Jean!" He cried out now. "I'm going over to Eren and Mikasa's place. Dinner's in the fridge for later."

Jean didn't say anything, he simply watched Armin leave. He watched as he got into the front seat of Mikasa's new car, and drove off. Once he was gone, Jean reached up and plucked Joaquin up off his feet.

"I gotta get ready for work now, Joaquin," he said to his son as he stood up. "We'll fly some more later."

"Fwy?" Joaquin asked as he looked up towards his father. He then reached up to tug at the hem of Jean's shirt. "Fwy."

"Later, alright Keeny? Now come on, I'll take you to Grandma's on the way to work."

Joaquin's desire to fly some more vanished once he heard 'Grandma'. Now he was squealing with delight as he let Jean pick him up and carry him inside.

...

 _Back in high school, it had been Armin who brought Jean's homework for him as he recovered from his suicide attempt._

 _Much of the time, Jean was quiet due to still having his breathing tube down his throat. Even though he tried to write down his answers and show his work, Jean's hand kept trembling a little too much_ _._

 _"Do you need me to write down your answers for you?" Armin inquired, to which Jean shook his head. While he continued to try, Jean took his other hand and lay it on top of Armin's slightly protruding tummy. Armin paused for a moment, before setting his pencil down and readjusting and pulling his shirt up to just below his chest._

 _He also lay his hand down palm side up in case Jean wanted to say anything._

 _"It was kicking some more last night."_

 _'Really?'_

 _Armin nodded. "I let Marco feel it, since he was there when it started up._

 _"I'm a bit surprised that I'm feeling it so early in pregnancy. That's probably because I'm a relatively small person myself, though."_

 _Armin leaned back a little more, letting Jean now place his other hand onto him to let him feel anything._ _Sure enough, the kicking began after he'd felt around enough._

 _"...I think it knows who you are, Jean," he whispered. "It doesn't actually do it this much with anyone else."_

 _'Not even Jaeger and Mikasa?'_

 _Armin shook his head. "It doesn't kick at all with either of them. It's as if the baby doesn't like them."_

 _Here Jean snorted in place of actual laughter, finding this hilarious. He stopped when Armin gave him a look of annoyance._

 _He then continued to feel around the belly that carried his child within._ _As he did this, Armin tried not to look at the rigid bump underneath the hospital sheets indicative of an erection. That was embarrassing and worrisome enough as it was._

 _..._

Jean's mother ended up not being home, leaving him with really no other choice besides either taking Joaquin to Marco's, or bringing him to work.

Marco was glad to take him in, though.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Jean," was what he said as Joaquin toddled in and looked about the apartment, dragging his favorite blanket behind him. "I don't have anything else to do today anyway."

Joaquin still looked confused, wondering why his father brought him here instead of to Grandma's.

"Ga'ma?" He said when looking over to the other two for answers.

"Grandma isn't able to watch you right now, Keeny," Jean tried to explain. "So Uncle Marco is going to keep an eye on you instead. All right?"

Despite this, Joaquin still looked sad and crestfallen, like he were on the verge of bawling his little eyes out. In turn, Jean could feel his heart breaking to pieces.

"I can't be that bad to spend time with, am I, Joaquin?" Marco tried to ask with a reassuring tone of voice as he walked over to pick the little boy up.

"No..." It was hard to figure out what way Joaquin meant that answer.

Jean tried paying it no mind, and gently kissed his little boy on the forehead, before leaving for work.

...

 _"You'd think she was just sleeping."_

 _From the moment the nurse placed her into his arms, Armin held his daughter close to his chest. Next to him, Jean sat on the bed and smoothed her golden hair on top of her head. He also gently dragged a finger down one of her chubby cheeks._

 _"I know we're teenagers, and we aren't anywhere near ready to be parents," Armin said while trying to keep himself calm, "but it still hurts. I wish I could do something, anything, if it meant she could be alive..."_

 _Armin trailed off, letting tears overcome him. He then held their baby closer to his chest. Jean could see Armin beginning to shake with sobs, before breaking into flat out wailing._

 _At that point, Jean carefully pulled Armin over and held him close. He let him bury his face into his chest, while embracing him._

 _"I'm sorry," Armin cried, his voice muffled. "I'm sorry, Jean."_

 _"Just let it out, okay?" Jean now gently rubbed in circles against Armin's back, murmuring into his hair and kissing the top of his head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."_

 _This didn't placate Armin; if anything, it just made Armin cry harder._

 _..._

With help from one of his co-workers, Jean finished up a few vital repairs to the truck he'd been working on. The entire time, however, his mind was occupied with thoughts about his current life issues.

"Hey Gunther?" He asked of his co-worker when they were taking a short break. "How do you know if your relationship is in trouble?"

Gunther stopped wiping off his hands and looked up at him. "Uhhh, well it mighta had to do with him cheating on me with one of his students. That may have been a factor."

Jean looked at him with a nonplussed facial expression. "Student...?"

"Oh, yeah. He teaches shop class in high school. Dunno how he didn't get fired."

Mister Jinn didn't seem like the guy to do such a thing, at least not when Jean had him as a teacher in school.

"Well, anyway, to answer your question..." Gunther sat next to Jean now, as he tried to think of the best way to explain things.

"From what I've been seeing and hearing, Armin doesn't spend time much at home anymore?"

Jean looked down at his feet, shaking his head slowly. Right now he just wanted to cry.

"Well, then ask 'em if he can spend time with you and the kiddo instead. You don't tell 'em, he ain't gonna think he's hurting you."

Here Gunther scratched the top of his head with a wrench he'd been using. "So, practice communication I guess, is what I'm trying to tell you."

That sounded like decent advice. Jean nodded, and was about to say thanks when his phone rang.

"Hold on a sec." Jean turned and walked out of the work area to try and hear better. "Hello?"

It was difficult to tell who he was talking to from his side of the conversation alone. Whatever it involved, though, it quickly sent him into a panic.

"No, it's okay Marco. I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up, only to suddenly clutch his head and proceed to shout cuss words in rapid succession. He then started running off, encountering Mike on the way to the entrance.

"Mike, tell Mister Erwin something came up and I gotta go now!" He took off faster before Mike had a chance to ask what was happening.

When Jean was gone, both of his co-workers stared off in the direction he'd been going.

"Wonder what that was about..." Gunther said, to which Mike just shrugged and made an "I dunno" sound.


	23. Chapter 23

It was to the pediatric ward that Jean ran to as soon as he reached the hospital. It wasn't too far away from the NICU, so it didn't take him long to find it. He didn't even bother to stop when the people he ran past told him to.

In fact, he only stopped once he reached the first door and swung it open. By then, he was out of breath and his legs were shaking.

To Jean's relief, it was the room containing his young son. That relief quickly vanished once he saw Joaquin already using a breathing tube.

Like always, Joaquin's fragile health ended up leading to Jean crying and feeling like someone was squeezing his heart too painfully.

"Keeny..." Was all he could whisper as he watched the nurses attend to the sick little boy.

He barely noticed a nurse scold him and tell him to wait out in the hallway, until Joaquin was stabilized.

...

Marco tried to fill Jean in about what happened while he was at work.

"It was just so sudden," was how he started off with. "Joaquin and I were just watching a kids show, and then he was having trouble breathing. I brought him here to the hospital before I called you. I just panicked and-"

Jean ended up tuning Marco out, and now waited for any news in regards to Joaquin's condition. As he did, Marco quietly brought up something else.

"Do you think I should call Armin and let him know what's going on?"

Jean shook his head. "He's not going to care. Ever since Joaquin was born, he's been so distant. I don't know why."

Now Jean stepped away from the door, trying not to let Marco see him. He quick told him that he needed to get some fresh air and clear his head.

Surprisingly, Jean managed to take a few steps out into the hospital parking lot before he let go. The moment he did, Jean began shaking with a myriad of unstable emotions. With tears of sorrow and rage pouring down his face, he then screamed before punching the nearest light pole. Despite the pain that ensued, he did it a few more times, howling the entire time.

By the time he was finished, Jean got down onto his knees and sobbed loudly, holding his now bleeding hand.

"Please, God," he then said as he looked skyward, clasping his hands together. "Don't take my little boy away. Please, I'm begging You. I'm begging You, don't let him die! I'll do anything if it means he stays here with me! Please! Please..."

By now, Marco had come out in search of Jean, having heard him as he stepped out of the hospital lobby. When he saw Jean imploring that Joaquin be spared, he went over and knelt down beside him. Without saying anything, he placed a hand onto Jean's shoulder.

He then turned and embraced him, letting Jean return it along with rubbing and patting his back.

...

As soon as Jean was calmed down enough to stop from falling to the ground again, Marco brought him back inside and to where Joaquin's room was located. By now, the nurses had finished with trying to keep the little boy from suffocating. This let Jean be able to go in and take a better look.

"I'm gonna call your mother and see if she can come here," he said to Jean, who nodded and watched him leave. He then looked back and kept on walking.

"Joaquin..." He quietly whispered as he approached the bed. His son lay on his back with his head elevated, eyes darting about before letting loose with a few painful sounding coughs. Accompanying said coughing were some tears and wheezing. The pain Joaquin looked to be in made Jean's heart practically shatter.

"It'll be okay, Keeny," Jean told him as he held the railing at the edge of the bed. "It's okay, baby boy. Daddy's here now..."

Joaquin whimpered in pain, his nose trying to sniffle but was too congested to do it properly.

...

Later that night, when Joaquin managed to fall asleep despite his illness, Jean lay on a cot provided by the medical staff. However, he was unable to rest because of all that was happening.

Though Jean's mother had come and gone, she was fussing over her grandson the whole time. When she was gone, Jean made the request for nobody else to visit unless he said otherwise.

Even so, her actions were certainly more than what could be said for Armin-

By the time Jean conceded that he wasn't getting any sleep, his phone rang. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw that it was Armin. As carefully as he could, he snuck out into the hallway and answered.

"Hello-"

"Jean where are you?!" Armin's panic stricken voice cut through any proceeding speech. "I just got home and you're not here, and Joaquin isn't here either and-"

Jean stood and waited for Armin to calm down before he tried to say anything else. In as calm a voice that he could manage, he explained.

"I'm at the hospital," he murmured. "Our son has a severe lung infection and is in intensive care. He's been here for hours." As he talked, Jean made his free hand into a fist, letting it tremble at his side. He was just so angry with Armin right now.

"Huh?! He is?! Jean, why didn't you call me when you had the chance to?!"

Jean waited until Armin had finished, then gave his reasoning in as spiteful and displeased a tone he could get it:

"I didn't want to ruin your day of fun."

He then hung up while Armin could be heard on the other end, still frantic and desperate for answers. When his phone was back in his pocket, he went back into Joaquin's room.

He ignored Armin's attempts to call him back.

...

Eren and Mikasa were thankfully willing to drive Armin to the hospital, once he told them why he needed to go there. As much as they could barely tolerate Jean, they did at least try not to show it around his son (Joaquin was Armin's baby too).

It was already late at night when Armin had called Jean. He was fairly certain that it had to have been one in the morning when he reached the hospital and hurried in.

"Is Joaquin here?" He asked the receptionist without bothering to say hello. "Joaquin Arlert-Kirstein? He might be here with my husband?"

The short, dark-haired receptionist flared his nostrils in displeasure, but pointed Armin in the right direction.

"Good luck trying to get in, though," he told Armin in an irritated voice. "The little brat's father has requested no visitors whatsoever."

Now Armin was confused. "They have to let me in, though! I'm Joaquin's mother-"

"What. So. Ever," reiterated the receptionist through gritted teeth. To emphasize the point, he tapped his fingertips against the desk he was sitting at.

Armin was a little put off by his rudeness, but figured that it was probably best to stay put and not make a fuss about all of it.

...

Jean was alerted by the pitiful sound of his son whimpering, having woken up and making noises of discomfort. Despite being relatively tired himself, Jean was at his bedside ready to try and placate him.

"What's the matter, Keeny?" He said calmly as he tried not to frighten him. "Do you want Daddy to get you your teddy bear? Hmm?"

Earlier, when she'd been visiting, Jean's mother had brought along a bag of what she referred to as 'essentials'. It turned out to have a bunch of snacks and juice boxes for Jean. The rest were items for Joaquin, like a blanket and a few stuffed animals.

It was one of these stuffed toys that Jean dug out of the bag, bringing it over to his son.

"Here you go," Jean told Joaquin as he lay the bear next to him. "Mr. Bear will sit and keep an eye on you, all right?" Joaquin said nothing; he just rolled over and grabbed hold of his teddy.

"Daddy's gonna be gone for a little while. I'll come back soon, though, I promise."

With that, Jean gradually walked out backwards out of the room. He kept his eye on Joaquin until he was totally out of his sight.

...

Armin was sitting in the waiting room with Eren and Mikasa, waiting to see if eventually he could be allowed to see his little boy.

He didn't have to wait too much longer, though, it turned out.

"Armin." Hearing his name in a startled voice certainly got his attention. He looked over his shoulder to see Jean, wide-eyed and bewildered.

"Jean..." He stood up and turned to face him better. Eren and Mikasa tried standing up with him, but he gestured for them to sit back down.

The two of them stood and stared at one another for a few moments. Armin then took a few steps forward to join Jean in walking through the hallway.

...

"Why are you here?" Jean asked in an unusually cold voice. Armin tried to shake it off as he thought of the best way to explain.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" He was still a little put off by Jean's behavior. "I'm Joaquin's mother and I should be able to see him if he's in the hospital-" Here, Jean abruptly stopped walking, and put up a hand to stop Armin from going any further.

"No," he now said forcefully, pointing at Armin now. "You don't get to play that card now. Ever since he was born, you've done next to _nothing_ for him, beyond ignoring him. Don't think you can suddenly act like he's important now that he's suffering from lung problems."

After pausing for a moment, Jean then lowered his arm a bit, only to bring it back up to his face. He then took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"Why are you even acting like that in the first place? I swear, it's like you hate him."

"I _don't_ hate him, Jean! It's just..."

Armin tried not to cry as he now hung his head down, and started to explain his behavior.

"Because I don't think it's fair."

Jean furrowed his eyes and frowned even more. "What do you mean? What isn't fair?"

Armin's bottom lip was quivering now. "I don't think it's fair that Joaquin got to live, while his sister was stillborn. I mean, Alyssa was perfectly fine during pregnancy, I reached full term, we did _everything we could_ to prepare for her! And she still died.

"With Joaquin, I was three months early. I-I had to have him _cut out_ of me. And yet he's the one who survived. I just don't understand..."

Armin wiped away any tears rolling down his face. "That's what I'm reminded of every time I look at Joaquin."

With Armin's explanation, Jean stared dumbfounded with his arms crossed. He then shook it off and gave his input.

"You think I..." He looked off to the side and took a deep breath, his hands becoming fists as they visibly shook. When he looked back up at Armin, he was on the verge of tears himself.

"You think I don't miss her, too? You really think that I've completely forgotten about our little girl? Well, I do miss her! I was devastated when she died. She was my daughter too, you know."

It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold his composure.

"I miss her every day. Hell, any time I get a chance to be alone, I practically cry my damn eyes out until there's nothing left.

"But her death shouldn't be an excuse to ignore our son all of the freaking time. He's only one, for crying out loud, and he's spent at least a third of that time in the hospital."

Armin was surprised and shocked into complete silence. He never realized just how much Jean had been holding in until now.

"We've already lost our daughter for reasons we couldn't control. I don't want to lose our son too, for reasons we can. So please...Please..."

Jean couldn't seem to find any other words for everything else he wanted to tell Armin. Instead, Armin stepped forward to embrace him, letting Jean rest his head against his shoulder. Jean then sighed again, before returning Armin's hug.

...

After some convincing the right people to let Armin through, he and Jean were on their way to check on Joaquin.

Jean took his designated spot onto the cot provided by the medical staff, while Armin sat down next to him. By now Joaquin had fallen asleep, struggling a little with breathing while clutching his teddy bear.

"He's so pale," Armin said mostly to himself. Jean simply nodded. He then reached over and took a gentle hold of Armin's hand.

"Sometimes, like when I'm at work or visiting one of our friends, I'm reminded that the two of us were kids when we got married. We still are, really. We're kids who have a kid.

"I'm willing to stick around for as long as possible, though. So if you are, too, that'd be awesome."

He waited for Armin's response, which came in the form of gently squeezing his hand and nodding.

"I'll give it a try," he spoke in a dry whisper. "I'll try to be a better parent to Joaquin, too."

Hearing this made Jean look over and smile, which was returned and accompanied by a big hug.

The two of them pulled back as soon as they heard Joaquin coughing and whimpering, and right away they were at his bedside to attend to him.

"It's all right, Joaquin," Armin said as he reached in and let his son hold his hand. "Mommy and Daddy are here now."

It took a little while, but eventually Joaquin was calmed down enough to go back to sleep. Once he was, his parents watched for a little while.

At one point, Armin wrapped one of his arms around Jean's waist, leaning his head onto his shoulder. In turn, Jean pulled him in closer and held him in his arms.


End file.
